The Castle Effect
by Sugarrush71
Summary: Richard Castle and Kate Beckett meet and fight mysterious foes that are kidnapping humans from remote sectors of space. An AU imagining of the Castle characters in the Mass Effect universe.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or Mass Effect. Both of them remain the property of the respective creative talents and companies behind them. I'm just having a bit of fun with them both._

* * *

 _In the not too distant future humans take their first tentative steps into exploring our solar system. During this exploration an alien archive belonging to a race called the Protheans is discovered on Mars. The scientific and technological knowledge found there, particularly the technology to harness dark energy to manipulate the mass of matter known as the Mass Effect, propels humans beyond their own system and into, what they now know, is a galaxy populated with many different alien species._

 _Now the human Systems Alliance has numerous colonies across the sector of space they have claimed for their own. Humans have spread throughout the galaxy and in a short time have become one of the more significant races in the wider galactic community. There is even a human councillor on the Citadel Council. The council of four races that govern the large swathe of the galaxy known as Council Space, of which the Systems Alliance is a part. It is in this universe that our story takes place._

* * *

 _Williamstown, Corlinus 4 – Terminus Systems_

Richard Castle looks up from his booth as the gloom of the bar is broken as the front door slides open and the harsh, bright, yet dust filled light outside pierces the darkness inside. Just as quickly the door slides shut and his eyes adjust again to the dim light inside the drinking establishment. He watches as the two men in dirty, grey utility coveralls walk over to the bar.

Just another pair of miners who've come off shift and are looking for some liquid relaxation he reasons. He picks up the glass tumbler from the table in front of him and takes a sip of his own order of liquid relaxation. He immediately grimaces at the harsh, burning and unrefined taste of the drink as he forces himself to swallow it and not just spit it back into the glass. Single malt scotch from Earth my ass, he thinks. The closest this synthetic swill has been to Earth is the reused bottle the bartender served it from.

To reinforce his displeasure he puts the glass back on the table with a little more force than necessary. He looks up again and lets his gaze wander over the room and not for the first time starts to wonder if his idea to come here isn't just a huge mistake. His gaze wanders over the other occupants of the bar. Almost all are off duty miners from the Palladium mine that is the sole reason for Williamstown's existence. Oh, for variety that are a couple of women and a young man, their skin tight clothing and heavily made up faces making it obvious that they are professionals here to offer other forms of 'relaxation' to the bar's clientele.

None of them offer him the inspiration he is looking for. None of them open up new worlds and characters for him to create and weave together into exciting and intriguing stories to excite his readers. None of them make him want to write.

For he, Richard Castle, famous mystery writer on Earth, across Alliance space and on quite a few Council worlds too, is blocked. Ever since he became bored with his long running character of the Alliance Central Intelligence operative, Derrick Storm, and killed him off he's been struggling to write anything new.

For months he'd just lazed around his quiet, empty loft in New York on Earth, not even bothering to change out of his sleep clothes. He'd drink more than he should alone, watch movies from the Extranet and stare at the blank holo-screen that waited for him to recite his latest literary efforts. All the while dodging vid calls from his publisher and ex-wife, Gina, as she pestered him for an update or just any information on what character and story he'd come up with the replace the cash cow that was Derrick Storm.

He didn't even have his family to distract or inspire him either. His mother, actress Martha Rodgers, is currently with a touring theatre company that is showcasing some old Mamet plays throughout Asari space. The apple of his eye, his daughter Alexis, is off goodness knows where as part of her duties with the Alliance.

Castle grimaces again as he recalls the day the Alliance Military reps came to him after Alexis did that aptitude test in grade school. Who knew that his pride at the brilliance of his daughter would bite him on the ass so spectacularly?

He never should have agreed to let her go to the academy but at the time he'd just divorced Gina and was in such a depressed state that he didn't want to subject his bright and vibrant daughter to his darkness. That plus he'd fallen for the patter the reps had given him on what a great opportunity it was for her. Since then he's not seen his beloved daughter for more than a couple of weeks at a time when she gets leave from whatever duty assignment she's on. Other than that they do, at least, also have weekly vid calls, when either of their schedules or locations allow. The only consolation he has is that, when he does see her, she looks happy and is clearly challenged in a good way by what she is doing. He just wishes that it wasn't so dangerous like all work with the Alliance seems to be.

His heart had been in his throat two years ago when he'd heard that the Alliance fleet had been involved with the battle with the Geth at the Citadel and the number of Alliance ships lost as a result. To say he'd been relieved when his frantic vid call had eventually found Alexis, afterwards, was an understatement. He'd been further relieved when he'd learned that the frigate she served on at the time was nowhere near the battle and so she'd been in no danger. It still doesn't alleviate the dread he feels, however, whenever he hears of some engagement involving Alliance ships or troops.

That aside, eventually, alone except for the constant bombarding for information from Gina, he'd come to realise that he wasn't going to find a new story slobbing around his home. Therefore he'd decided to take a trip in search of inspiration. His trip has led him here to the Terminus Systems, that area of the galaxy outside Alliance and Citadel space where humans and others were setting up fledging agricultural, trading and mining colonies. What better place, he'd thought, than here on the new frontier to find the new characters and stories that he so desperately needs.

So he'd set out from Earth, initially flying first class on highly reputable passenger shuttles and then on no class, much less reputable freighters until he eventually arrived here, on Corlinus 4. He shakes his head and risks another sip of his supposed scotch as he wonders whether Agent Grey is playing some kind of trick on him for suggesting he come here.

The enigmatic and mysterious ACI agent that he 'worked' with while researching for Derrick Storm had said to him that he would find a very interesting story on this mining colony. So far he's yet to see anything worth a single paragraph in a dry travel magazine let alone an entire mystery novel. Maybe he'd annoyed the agent one too many times during the time he shadowed him and this was some payback from the man. Maybe he should have tried contacting Sophia instead?

A disconcerted shudder goes down his spine at that thought. No, the way he'd left things with ACI Agent Sophia Turner would have probably meant she would have suggested he visit Tuchanka disguised as a Salarian, just so a Krogan would rip him in half.

He hated how things ended with Sophia. He'd been young at the time and living up to the playboy image that Paula and Gina had set him on. That combined with his still lingering depression at his separation from Alexis and he was a different man then. A man that was much more prepared to love and leave someone then than he is now. Now, he just wishes he could find someone that could inspire him but also be his friend, his partner and his love. Even now he realises that Sophia, while inspiration for Clara Strike, was never going to be that someone.

In the end, besides him realising she wasn't the soulmate of his dreams, she'd become a little too insistent that he make his temporary arrangement with the ACI a bit more permanent. That had been the last straw. He'd found his time with the ACI interesting, exciting, dangerous and inspiring but he didn't want to spend the rest of his life with them. So after a rather heated argument where items of furniture may or may not had been tossed around the room they had parted ways.

Castle takes another resigned sip of his drink and ponders what might have been and what could be. Will this dust bowl of a colony give him what he seeks or should he just give up and move on?

* * *

In a nondescript accommodation pod a couple of kilometres away a woman watches the holographic image of Richard Caste slumped over his drink that is being projected from the Omi-tool on her left forearm with just a bit of consternation. "What the hell is he doing here?" she asks herself.

The last she heard he was back on Earth being the rich, womanising, author that the tabloid vid shows liked to talk about from time to time. Not as often as his ego would like, the woman was sure. No, he's supposed to be partying with some C-grade starlet back home and not currently sitting in the one of only a dozen bars in the entire Corlinus system. He's not supposed to be here, in the place where her current mission is about to go down.

His presence complicates matters…..or does it? She's just supposed to be here to observe and report. She's not supposed to interfere and the presence of Richard Castle shouldn't interfere with that. It mustn't. He's no different from the three thousand other humans or the small number of aliens that are on this colony and she won't let whatever personal regard she has for the man interfere with her mission.

He'll just have to take his chances like everyone else. Then again, from what she remembers, the man has a remarkable ability to look after himself even given his privileged lifestyle. She just has to make sure to keep away from him or not let him get in her way.

Anyway, nothing might happen. Her superiors have sent her here because of a vague report that something might happen. That some, so far unknown, aliens have an interest in the mining colony on Corlinus 4. For all she knows the reports are a lie or mistaken or whatever these aliens want it is entirely benign.

Then again her bosses and in particular the main boss are rarely wrong and the tasks they give her are never boring or safe. So, as she switches from the image of the author to the feed from the colony's rudimentary space traffic control system that she hacked into, she wonders what, exactly they have sent her here to see.

Her dark eyebrows raise at the large return that the colony's old and barely functioning sensors are picking up. Looks like whatever she is here for has arrived.

* * *

The large vessel passes out of the shadow of Corlinus 4's second moon and moves silently towards the planet. As it moves closer the surprised controller at the small Williamstown spaceport tries raising the unknown vessel repeatedly but with no response. Her calls become more and more urgent as the craft continues to close with the planet and then orientates itself with the obvious intention to land.

The colony has no ships beyond a couple small shuttles, no satellites or ground based defences and the ominous silence from the large unknown ship has the controller very concerned at their intent. That and the fact that their trajectory has them set to land not at the spaceport but smack dab in the middle of town.

The strange, craft, cylindrical in shape, seemingly constructed from rock but with just a few metallic spires, rings and other technological additions to show it to be a space faring vessel, descends into the atmosphere of Corlinus 4. As it does so the controller places urgent calls to the colony's Mayor and Marshal, informing them of their unannounced visitors. She then does the only other thing she can do. She sends out a planetary distress call.

As the dangerous looking ship comes into view through widow of the control tower she is sitting in and just visible through the dust clouds over the colony, the controller hopes that there is someone out there that can hear her call.

* * *

 _A/N: For those familiar with the Mass Effect games this takes place during Mass Effect 2 but will not follow the events in the game as such. None of the Castle characters are taking the place of Shepard or any other Mass Effect character. This is another story happening in the same universe, parallel to the events in the game. Therefore it won't be a stretch for those who have played the game to know whose ship is descending on Williamstown. As far as Castle is concerned, as the story summary indicates, this is a totally AU reimagining of the Castle characters in the Mass Effect universe. It is why I've not marked this as a crossover. Let me know if people think it should be considered a crossover._

 _The reason I chose to set this here and not during the events of the first Mass Effect game are personal. Having a PlayStation 3 rather than an Xbox Mass Effect 2 was the first of the Mass Effect games released for that console and that I played. As a big fan of the franchise that I now am that game will always hold a special place in my heart for me._

 _This AU may not be to the taste of everyone but is something I've had in mind for a long time. I'm alternating between writing chapters for this and chapters for my other ongoing Castle story, Unknown Empire. As with that story I will try to update this one weekly._

 _I hope you all enjoy this._


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: Castle and Mass Effect are not mine. They belong to those that created them and continue their stories._

* * *

 _In Orbit of Arcturus Station, Arcturus System, Earth Alliance Space – one week earlier_

Commander Kate Beckett grips suddenly onto the side of the cabin as the Kodiak class shuttle rocks violently for a few seconds, almost knocking her from her feet.

"Sorry about that, Commander," comes the cheery female voice of the shuttle's pilot from the cockpit at the front of the craft.

With one hand still outstretched towards a bulkhead in case there is any more unexpected turbulence she makes her way forward until she is standing in the open hatchway leading to the cockpit. Once there she looks down at the very young woman, almost a girl to Beckett's thirty something eyes, whose long, flaming red hair she can see in a pony-tail poking out from the back of the regulation blue with gold piping Alliance Navy ball cap the pilot is wearing.

The pilot must sense Beckett's presence behind her because she turns a porcelain white face and striking blue eyes up to her as she says apologetically while continuing her bright tone, "Oh, hey Commander. Sorry again. I had to avoid an unexpected trash dump by a Volus freighter and the inertial dampers on this crate aren't what they were. I've tried tweaking them but they just won't stay fixed. It happens with these first run Kodiaks. We were supposed to get brand new ones but funding was tight towards the end of the build so they lumped us with some hand-me-downs."

"That's OK, Flight Lieutenant….Castle? Did you say your name was?" Beckett recalls from their brief introduction at the shuttle bay on Arcturus station.

The woman nods her head eagerly, "Flight Lieutenant Alexis Castle, ma'am, but you can call me, Blue."

"Blue?" responds Beckett with surprise.

The young officer rolls her eyes before replying, "Yeah, that's my call sign. It was given to me at flight school. It's an Aussie slang thing. I did my initial training at Kingsford–Smith base just outside Brisbane and one of my instructors was a local. Apparently Aussies call people with red hair 'Bluey'." The pilot shrugs her shoulders, "It's one of those opposites slang things. So all though training he would call me Blue and it's stuck with me ever since."

Beckett then sits down in the empty co-pilot seat next to Blue and regards the young pilot for a few moments. She must admit Flight Lieutenant Castle or Blue intrigues her for no other reason that she finds it unusual that such a young person is already a Flight Lieutenant and a qualified pilot. She watches as Blue makes some minor adjustments on the holographic controls that are projected in front of her and her movements are assured, almost graceful as her fingers glide across the controls.

So Blue seems competent enough but she still looks far too young for her rank. There is a mystery here and Kate Beckett only likes mysteries in the books she reads and not in one of the officers that is now under her command. Her appointment to this duty was so last minute that, while she's read as much as she could about it on the way here, she hasn't had a chance to review the personnel files of all of the crew yet so she doesn't know this officer's story. She then notices Blue giving her scrutiny a couple of nervous sideways glances and so Beckett decides to put her out of her misery while also satisfying her own curiosity.

"If you don't mind me saying, Blue, aren't you a little young to be a Flight Lieutenant?" Beckett asks a little bluntly.

There is a definite blooming of red on the white cheeks of the pilot before she responds just a little defiantly, "I am eighteen, Commander. I was identified with a high IQ and superior hand-eye co-ordination in grade school by an Alliance early development program. After further testing I showed that I also have a natural aptitude for science and engineering. My Dad and I were encouraged for me to enter an Alliance Military advanced early education program. I spent my High School years at the Academy and there I discovered that besides tinkering with all the latest tech I really love to fly. After graduating from the Academy I went to flight school while minoring in engineering. So besides being a pilot I also supply tech support aboard. Upgrading and moding armour, weapons, load outs and the like."

"So you're some kind of girl genius then?" comments Beckett with just a hint of teasing.

The blush gets a little deeper on Blue's cheeks, "I suppose you could say that."

"Then you're the shuttle pilot and tech support aboard?" clarifies Beckett.

Now the blush is so red on the girl's face that it is matching the colour of her pony tail, "Uh, while I do help the Chief with tech support my primary duty is ship's pilot."

Beckett cocks a curious eyebrow at that as it is unusual for a ship's pilot to be flying a shuttle. Blue glances nervously at her and seeing her expression hurriedly explains, "When I heard that you were joining us, Commander, I swapped with Ensign Tolliver so I could be the one to fly you to the ship."

Blue pauses for a moment but as Beckett doesn't fill the silence the pilot continues bashfully, shoulders now a little hunched in embarrassment, answering Beckett's unasked question of why?

"I swore I'd never tell you this but you're the type of officer I aspire to be, Commander. Youngest woman to achieve N7 rating. Winner of the Star Cross at Zoratell. Not to mention taking command of the _Singapore_ when only a Lieutenant, after all the other senior officers were killed and defeating that Batarian slaver ship that ambushed you. Next to Shepard you're one of the most well-known officers in the Alliance. With him dead there's even talk of you becoming the next human Spectre…..I…..I just wanted the opportunity to be the first person to welcome you aboard," Blue embarrassedly stammers her admission.

Beckett sighs and turns away from the embarrassed but hero worshiping young officer and looks out the side view port at the black emptiness of space as she responds gruffly with a hint of resignation, "I'm nothing special, kid. Don't put me on a pedestal. I'm just the same as any other Alliance officer."

"Oh…No….I didn't mean…Oh, I was afraid of this," continues a now mortified Blue. "Please forget I said anything, Commander. I just meant to say that I have the highest respect for you and I'm honoured to serve with you."

Relenting a little so to alleviate Blue's very obvious disquiet at how their introduction has gone Beckett responds a little lighter in tone and turns back to the pilot to offer a small, false smile, "Not to worry, Blue. Don't mind me. It was a long trip from Earth so I must still be a little space lagged."

Blue nods her head eagerly and in relief, "Of course, Commander."

Silence falls in the cockpit at that and Beckett turns back to look out the view port again. Beckett hates that. The notoriety bordering on fame, the adoration and the inflated expectations that have come about because of her past. As she said to the young woman at the controls, she considers herself no different than any other Alliance officer. In her opinion she'd just gotten lucky a few times when a lot of others hadn't.

Ok, so she's not so unassuming not to acknowledge that she does have some skills and she does take some small pride of the N7 patch on her armour and all the blood and sweat she went through to get it. It's just that with the reason she joined the Alliance Military still a dark hole in her heart she feels anything but the perfect example of an Alliance officer that Flight Lieutenant Castle obviously thinks she is.

Unfortunately since Shepard's death, a little under two years ago, the Alliance propaganda machine has been looking for a new poster child and has latched onto her. Little did the ship's pilot know that Councillor Udina did, in fact, offer her the job as the next human Spectre.

Those enigmatic agents of the Citadel Council who act as its very direct and rough right hand. Doing all the jobs, some very dirty, that the Council need doing that don't require or warrant the attention of the Council fleet. Answerable to no one except the Council, not even to the government of the agent's own home world.

Beckett's sure that some of the Flight Lieutenant's high estimation of her might drop if she learnt how Beckett had flatly refused the offer. She doesn't want to become a plaything of the Council, especially the Asari. Not with her past and that reason she joined the Alliance.

A couple of loud beeps from the console in front of Blue interrupt her thoughts and Beckett turns to look back at the pilot as her hands move quickly and precisely over the controls. Blue then indicates with her head at the main view port in front of her and says with some pride, "There she is, Commander. The _New York_."

Beckett looks out the view port at what Blue is referring to, the rapidly approaching profile of a ship seemingly hanging in space ahead of them. Her new duty assignment, the SSV _New York_ , SR12. As she looks over the curved, shiny, blue-grey hull some of the misgivings that she felt when she was offered this assignment resurface.

She had been on Earth preparing to leave on another assignment when she'd been ordered to report to the Alliance Admiralty in Vancouver. Once there she had received new orders to step in as the brand new _New York's_ Executive Officer and Commander of the ship's two squads of Marines. The suddenness of the appointment was due to the previous XO being seriously injured during the ship's trials and the ship's Captain requesting her, specifically, as the replacement.

Knowing that the Captain in question was her old mentor, Captain Roy Montgomery, had her quickly getting over the suddenness of the change of orders. That and she hadn't really been looking forward to undertaking her previous assignment.

As part of the Alliance wanting to use her as the new ideal of an Alliance officer for the recruiting posters, she had been about to undertake a goodwill mission to the human colonies in the Terminus Systems. While there she was to offer to oversee the installation of defence batteries, press the flesh, play nice and show the Alliance flag. All to a bunch of colonists that were mostly in the Terminus Systems so that they would have nothing to do with the Alliance. Therefore she'd fully expected to be as about welcome on the colonies as a Geth would be in the Quarian Migrant Fleet. She pities whichever officer has to do that publicity stunt now.

Therefore she'd been eager to take on this new role and had spent the journey from Earth to Arcturus, the large space station that is the seat of the Alliance Parliament and Military, reviewing the specs of this new ship that she can now see for herself in front of her. Seeing in it the obvious influences in its design brings up the same misgivings she felt when she read those specs on the way here.

The _New York_ is a both an experimental and new class of ship. After the success of the joint Human-Turian project that resulted in the hybrid frigate _Normandy_ and its pivotal role at the Battle of the Citadel, the Alliance started looking for similar interspecies development opportunities. The _New York,_ named after the cruiser lost at the same Battle of the Citadel, is the result.

Launched just eighteen months after the mysterious loss of the _Normandy_ and resulting death of Commander Shepard the _New York_ is a joint Human-Asari designed light cruiser. Looking at the ship now she can again see the Asari influences in the ship's design.

While still having the same basic long hull with down and rear angled wings running its length giving the appearance from front of an rectangle with a wedge that are the wings running the length of the ship that is common in all Alliance cruisers, the Asari influences are still apparent. All the normal hard edges of the ship have been rounded off and there are more graceful curves in the hull than is normal in a human vessel but are common with Asari design. As she noticed before the hull also has the same shiny, blue grey sheen of an Asari cruiser and not the usual off white with blue paint job of the Alliance Navy. She knows this is due to the carbon nanotube with diamond Chemical Vapour Deposition armour that the hull is made up of, just the same as an Asari warship.

Then there is the most obvious indication of that the Asari had something to do with the ship's design, the engines. At the rear of the ship, instead of the inverted V of the wings pierced with ports at their end for standard sub-light and FTL engines, the wings are joined together to form a hollow oval ring. This ring is illuminated on the inner circumference with the pale blue light of an Asari engine. Just the same as the hollow centre engines that are a part of all Asari warships right up to the massive dreadnought the _Destiny Ascension._

Due to the Asari engine the ship requires a large Element Zero Core, the reactor that harnesses the energy from the mineral Element Zero that enables the manipulation of dark energy and allows travel at faster than light speeds and through the Mass Relay network to the rest of the galaxy. Because of such a large engine core the ship had to be bigger than the frigate that had been originally envisaged but it is still smaller than the average Alliance cruiser. So the new class of light cruiser had been born.

If it wasn't for the Asari being responsible for the ship and the Asari engineers that are aboard to assist with the running of their engine she wouldn't have this feeling of unease as the shuttle is skilfully and smoothly being brought towards the ship's hanger deck. Not that she has anything against the Asari as a species or any aliens for that matter. One of her best friends is a Drell, Willak, who she worked with for a few of years when he was assigned to the ship she was serving on at the time as part of a personnel exchange with the Hanar.

No, it's just that all Asari are biotics and Beckett doesn't trust biotics. Those beings, due to in utero exposure to raw Element Zero or who have undergone genetic alterations later in life that are able to manipulate dark energy with the power of their minds, some training and the assistance of technological implants. The Asari home world, Thessia, is covered in rich deposits of raw Element Zero so all Asari are born biotics.

It is because Earth has barely any Element Zero or 'Eezo' deposits why there were no acknowledged human biotics until humans discovered the Prothean archive and the true potential of the mineral. Hindsight now shows that the few and often derided reports of people with telekinetic or telepathic abilities from Earth's past indicates that they may have actually been untrained biotics born near one of the rare Eezo deposits.

She has such personal reasons for distrusting biotics regardless of their species that it has almost hurt her career in the Alliance Military. Biotics are becoming more and more prevalent in the Alliance and while she's done her best to avoid working with them it has become impossible given how almost every Marine squad has one as part of the unit now. In abstract she can appreciate the ability to project an energy barrier to deflect incoming projectiles or how the ability to knock down an enemy's cover with a solid wave of energy would be useful in combat. It is just that whenever she sees a biotic use the warp ability that allows them to rip something apart from the inside she gets a churning in her gut that almost makes her think they are using the warp field on her.

A couple of times she's been reprimanded for objecting to having a biotic on her squad. In the end she's followed orders like a good soldier but she hasn't liked it. On the surface she's been polite to the individuals involved but she never socialises with them off duty like she would her other squad or ship mates. Often, at the earliest possible opportunity she would seek a new assignment to get out of the situation.

She knows she's being unfair and prejudiced but after what a biotic did to her family she doesn't think she'll ever be comfortable around one. She looks out at ship that now fills the view port in front of her and contemplates how comfortable she's going to be serving on a ship built with the help of a race of biotics and with biotics on the crew?

As she is rocked slightly as the shuttle gracefully settles onto the deck of the hanger, Beckett muses that she guesses she's about find out.

* * *

 _A/N: So both Alexis and Beckett are introduced here. I know Alexis isn't the same age as she appeared at the start of the show but even with the premise of her being a 'genius' that had been tagged to join the Alliance at a young age, I couldn't justify in my own mind a fifteen year old flying the ship. As it is I'll try not to make her too like Wesley from Star Trek: The Next Generation. I do like the quirk however that it looks like that any significant Alliance ship is piloted by a redhead._

 _As for Beckett being the Sheppard like Commander in the story I'll just say that if they ever get the Mass Effect movie out of development then I think they couldn't do better than Stana Katic as FemShep._

 _Also please excuse my clumsy explanation of the look of the New York. Again I hope Mass Effect fans at least can get where I'm coming from._

 _More to come in about a week._


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or Mass Effect. This is just my imagination going wild._

* * *

 _SSV New York – border of the Systems Alliance and the Terminus Systems – one week later_

Beckett takes a couple of deep breaths to calm herself. At the top of the next breath she concentrates and the next instant she is squeezing off multiple shots in rapid succession from the M-15 Vindicator assault rifle at her shoulder. With easy precision she tracks from one target to the next, giving each a fatal three shots. One to bring down their shields, one to weaken their armour and then the final kill shot.

Five seconds later she lowers her rifle and starts breathing normally again. She huffs a loose strand of her shoulder length brown hair that has strayed in front of her face. As she does so she hears a sound from behind her that she suspects is that of a credit chip being slapped into another person's hand.

She turns around in time to see a smugly grinning Lieutenant Kevin Ryan slipping something into the pants pocket of his blue Alliance Marines work-day coveralls. Seeing the disgruntled look on the face of the other man present, Major Javier Esposito, it doesn't take a detective to figure out that the Major just lost a bet to the Lieutenant.

"How's that, Esposito? Satisfied now?" Beckett askes of the scowling marine.

The brown skinned man, with close shaved black hair and, like Ryan, wearing the pale blue coveralls of an Alliance Marine dips his head in reluctant acknowledgement as he answers, "Ok, Commander. I'll accept you're a better shot than me….on a range. But that's a lot different to combat and I maintain that no one beats me and my Mattock when the shit is real."

Esposito hefts up the large assault rifle in his hands giving an almost affectionate pat on the barrel to emphasise his point.

The fair haired, blue eyed, boyish looking Ryan will have none of that however as he chimes in with, "Come on, Javi. She beat your best range score by two whole seconds and each target was taken down with three clean hits right in the ten ring. That's at least fifty points better than you did. Face it, man, she just handed you your ass."

"Well, I'd like to see an Engineer like you do better than either than us with that piddling little Tempest you carry. Otherwise what will you do? Launch a drone at it?" mocks Esposito as he rounds on his friend and squad mate.

"Boys, boys, boys, enough," interrupts Beckett before the argument gets too heated holding up her hands. "Look, this was just some friendly competition. Nothing to take so seriously. However, if you think you can do better Esposito I'm all up for a rematch."

The muscular marine gives her an appraising look up and down before he looks her in the eye and says, "Nah, Chicca, I'm good. You've shown me you can shoot. I suppose it's possible your worthy of leading our people."

On the outside Beckett gives the man a nod of respect while on the inside she his breathing a small sigh of relief. It has been a tough first week here aboard the _New York_ mainly due to the grief she's had to put up with from the man she just bested on the range here in the corner of the ship's armoury.

When she first step foot on the ship a week ago she'd been greeted by Lieutenant Ryan, one of the two members of the squad she would lead personally on any planet side missions. His and the other member of her squad, Major Esposito, were the two personnel dossiers she had been able to read before arriving aboard. At the time she'd been surprised that Ryan had been the one to welcome her aboard and not Esposito, who is her second in command of the marines on board and the senior marine officer. Ryan had put on a brave face and tried to act like nothing was wrong explaining that Esposito was tied up with a vid call back to marine HQ on Titan but she could tell something was off.

Ryan had led her to Captain Roy Montgomery and after she had formally reported for duty she had been warmly hugged by her old mentor. It was as they sat later in the Captain's cabin, sharing cups of coffee, that she discovered why Major Esposito was on a call to marine HQ and not in the hanger deck to meet her. Apparently the call was about her appointment as commander of the marine detachment aboard.

When the Alliance Military came into being it modelled its various branches along the same lines as the terrestrial militaries of the various nation states on Earth. However they weren't above trying to evolve the system at the same time. So it came about that there was a lot more blending of roles regardless of a person's particular branch of the military. The individuals involved just had to demonstrate the skills and abilities required to do so. Therefore it is possible for a pilot to become the Captain of a starship and, most commonly, for a naval officer to serve with and command marine units. The famous Commander Sheppard was just one example of this and Kate Beckett is another. They have to be properly qualified, of course, and invariably an officer has to be an N7 as well to be commander of a unit, just as Beckett is.

That's not to say that there aren't those in the various branches that don't think there should be such blending amongst the services. That marines should only be commanded by marines or ships should only be run by naval officers. After her chat with Roy and her eventual first meeting with Esposito she learned that the Major is definitely one of those.

She gave him props for not denying, when she did eventually find him in the ship's gym, that the call he was on was to object to her appointment as marine commander, particularly over him. He'd condescendingly acknowledged that she might have some small skill as a squib but that there was no way in his mind that she could do a better job of leading 'his' people on the ground.

He'd even gone as far as to assure her that his objections have nothing to do with her being a woman, what with two members of the other three person squad of marines aboard being female. No, his objection stemmed solely from her not being a marine and totally ignoring her N7 rating. The rating that an officer can only achieve, navy or marine, after years of training, experienced service in difficult combat situations and following arduous and rigorous testing. The closest that could be found from the old Earth militaries was what soldiers, sailors and marines had to go through to join the various special-forces units like the Navy Seals or the SAS.

She'd challenged him to prove that it wasn't because of her gender then and there in the gym and she had then spent the next hour in hand to hand combat with the man. In the end, after pinning him to the mat three times he'd accepted, reluctantly, that she could, somewhat, hold her own physically.

It hadn't ended there of course. For the rest of the week she had to put up with snide and sarcastic comments from the man despite the ease and efficiency with which she undertook her duties aboard the _New York_. He continually tried to put her and her accomplishments down and made no secret of the fact the he thought he should be leading the marines aboard.

After one muttered comment about how he didn't think a squib could shoot straight anything smaller than the mass accelerator gun on a dreadnought she'd challenged him again this time to this shooting contest on the firing range, which she'd just won. She's not naïve, however. She knows that she's still got to prove herself to Esposito in one more place, the most important place for soldiers like them, combat.

At that moment the clearly enunciating voice of the ship's Yeoman, Tory Ellis, comes over the PA, "Commander Beckett, report to CIC! XO to CIC!"

Beckett passes her rifle to Ryan and asks, "Clean that for me, would you, Ryan. I'll see you both with Bravo squad at 1500 for that intelligence briefing."

"Sure thing, ma'am" responds Ryan pleasantly, obviously thinking on how he'll spend the credits he just won, as he takes the weapon from her.

Esposito nods in grudging acknowledgment and she returns the nod brusquely before striding off to the nearby lift. It is only moments later that she is stepping out of the lift onto the deck of the Combat Information Centre.

She steps around the large Galaxy Map hologram in the centre of the room where the main navigation and tactical plot for the ship takes place as she makes her way over to one of the many consoles with flashing lights and holo-screens and controls that ring the room. There she finds the slightly smaller, balding, dark skinned, moustachioed man that is her Captain, Roy Montgomery. He dressed in his blue and grey working navy uniform and is leaning over to look closely at something over the shoulder of the seated, black haired, Yeoman Ellis.

Sensing her presence as she approaches behind him he rises until he is upright, turns to her and says, "Ah, Beckett. Looks like we've got some business at last and we can stop this damn patrolling back and forth. Tell her, Yeoman"

The young woman with dark eyes looks up at Beckett from where she is seated at her console and reports, "About ten minutes ago a planetary distress call was picked up by a relay satellite on the Alliance boarder, three sectors away, from Corlinus 4. It's an independent human mining colony in the Terminus Systems."

"What is the nature of their distress?" Beckett asks the Yeoman.

"Unspecified. The initial call went out live just stating the colony was in distress. Since then an automated signal took over for about five minutes before that just cut out," Ellis tells her.

"Any attempts to raise the colony?" Beckett asks them both.

"Sector Command tried and we tried as well but we're getting nothing but static. Even though it's across the border, because it's a human colony and we're so close Sector Command wants us to investigate," the Captain tells her.

"That plus with all the overtures the Alliance has been making to the Terminus colonies to come back to the fold it will look good if an Alliance ship can come to the rescue of one," surmises Beckett cynically.

Montgomery gives her a look that says that he agrees with her but as Captain he can't agree out loud. What he does say is, "It's fifteen minutes by FTL to the relay that will get us there and then another half an hour from the relay at the other end to the Corlinus System. By that time I want this ship ready for anything. We'll go to battle stations ten minutes before we enter the system and I want both squads suited up and ready from deployment as well."

"Aye, Captain," acknowledges Beckett. Beckett then leans over Ellis to depress a control on the console in front of her, "CIC to Pilot!"

"Pilot here," comes the unmistakably cheery voice of their pilot, Blue, over the intercom from the flying bridge a few decks above them.

"Pilot, set course for the Messanic Relay, best possible speed. At the relay set our destination for the relay nearest the Corlinus System in the Terminus Systems, acknowledge."

"Setting course for Messanic Relay, best possible speed, then setting relay destination closest to Corlinus System, acknowledged, Aye!" replies the now professional sounding Flight Lieutenant Castle.

"Execute," comes the command from Captain Montgomery next to her.

"Executing, Aye!" responds Blue over the intercom and Beckett can see the activity at several of the stations around her increase in response to the change of orders.

As Captain Montgomery moves to a nearby Engineering console to enquire of the Chief of the possibility of going to 110% on the Eezo core, Beckett wonders what they will find at Corlinus 4? Is the colony really in danger and if so will they be in time to help?

* * *

 _Williamstown – Corlinus 4_

Richard Castle ducks into the small alley between two prefabricated accommodation pods and puts his hands on his knees in exhaustion. His lungs are burning from the effort to suck in oxygen with all the running he's been doing in the lower oxygen level atmosphere here on Corlinus 4. On top of that his muscles and nerves are screaming as well from the effort he's had to put himself through to defend himself over the last half hour or so.

Just one minute, he thinks. Let him stop here for just a minute to catch his breath and replenish his reserves of energy. Can they give him just one minute before they find him again?

He, like the rest of the bar's patrons, had gone outside full of curiosity when the sound of the strange alien ship had reverberated through bar's walls as the ship had come into land. The bar, being on the edge of town and on a slight rise had a good view of the large, cylindrical craft as it came to rest with an ominous impact in the centre of the colony.

Some of the more curious patrons had headed in the direction of the recently landed ship to see what they could see. Others had shrugged their shoulders and gone back inside the bar. Castle on the other hand had just stood there and took it all in. Is this the inspiration he is seeking? Is this what Agent Grey sent him here to see?

Seeing the ominous sight of the over thirty storey tall ship towering over the at most four storey buildings of the colony he was starting to wonder, again, if being here was such a good idea. Making up his mind to let his inquisitiveness win he'd been just about to follow the others that had headed in the direction of the recently landed ship when he noticed something that had him stopping still again.

A strange cloud seemed to be emanating from the ship and spreading over the colony. As the cloud spread the sound of the colony, the voices of the people that had been loud and agitated with the landing of the unknown ship, started to quiet. A chill had gone down his spine as his instincts told him that something was very wrong.

His instincts had been confirmed moments later as he witnessed for himself what this strange cloud was doing. As it got closer to where he was standing it appeared at the other end of the street he was on. It advanced up the street and as it came in contact with the people in the street, some of them the same people who had just left the bar, those people froze. They stopped where they were and became as still as statues. Some people realised what was happening and there were screams and yells as they tried to turn and run away. Most didn't make it and some were even frozen in mid turn or in the process of falling to the ground.

Shocked at what he saw and what was approaching him he had quickly turned back to the open door of the bar and yelled to those inside, "Get Out! Run!"

Unfortunately they'd just ignored him and with the cloud getting closer he wasn't going to let himself get trapped in there so he'd turned on his heels had run in the opposite direction that the cloud was coming from. He'd sprinted out past the outer boundary of the colony and into the brush that surrounded it yelling at anyone he saw for them to run as well.

After getting about seven hundred meters past the edge of the colony he risked a look back. There he saw that the mysterious cloud had stopped right at the edge of the colony. Almost as if it knew where the colony stopped and there was no point going any further.

He'd hid behind a particularly large bush for about ten minutes before his natural curiosity got the better of him and he started inching back towards the colony. When he was only ten meters from the edge of the brush that was hiding him he could finally make out what the cloud was made of, insects. It seemed to be a swarm of some large, ugly looking bugs and Castle surmised that they must have bitten the people with some sort of paralysing agent to make them freeze in place.

It was as he watched this swarm ebb and flow in the air in front of him that he'd then seen them. Strange, insectoid looking bipeds with heads that were in a wedge shape and had a rounded top that reminded him of the carapace of a beetle and they were moving through the swarm totally unaffected. It didn't need his more than active imagination to tell him that these creatures were from the ship that just landed and were the ones responsible for the paralysing swarm over the colony.

With some shock and a little indignation he'd then watched as two of the aliens had approached one of the unfortunate Williamstown residents, a young woman, who had almost made it to the edge of the colony before being paralysed by the swarm. He'd watched in frustration as they aliens had picked the frozen woman up and placed her in an organic looking cocoon they'd brought with them.

He'd cursed at himself that he'd left his pistol back in his accommodation which is now at the heart of the swarm. He desperately thought about what he could do to help the woman as he wasn't going to just stand here and watch people get kidnapped right in front of him. He'd just resolved himself to stepping forward and doing what he could when both the aliens had suddenly stopped what they were doing and cocked their heads to one side.

The next instant they had turned and moved quickly back towards the centre of the colony and their ship, abandoning the cocoon in which they'd just sealed the woman. With relief Castle had watched as the swarm had followed the retreating aliens and he'd taken advantage of their departure to go to the cocoon.

He'd still been in the process of trying to pry the thing open when a loud roar followed by a rushing wind had him looking up in time to see the alien craft lift off from the centre of the colony and rapidly ascend into the atmosphere. Watching it until he could no longer see it he'd then resumed his efforts to free the captive woman in the cocoon. Eventually, after using the branch off a nearby bush, he'd been able to lever the cocoon open.

Inside he'd found the blond haired woman in her twenties, dressed in a white and red jump suit, lying stock still with wide, open eyes and a look of fear frozen on her face at the time the swam got to her. Castle had checked her pulse and with relief found it clear and strong in her neck. He'd then tried shaking and calling to her to try and break her out of her frozen state but to no avail.

Looking around desperately for something to break the woman out of her trance he'd thought his day couldn't get any worse, but it did. While still trying to revive the woman another roar had come from the sky above him and he'd thought the aliens were returning. However the ship that had broken through the clouds above the colony wasn't that of the mysterious, paralysing aliens. No, he'd recognised this ship and it was an equally unwelcome sight to his eyes, a Batarian raider.

Castle hadn't just blithely come to the Terminus Systems with no idea of the dangers here. Oh, no he'd done his research about what he might encounter here and while strange insect aliens that paralysed and abducted people wasn't one of them the Batarians were.

The Batarians are a humanoid species roughly the same size as humans with four eyes, a flat nose, small coarse hairs on their domed heads and sharp pointed teeth and they have long been chief rivals of humans in the galaxy. One of the main bone of contention between the two species was the new human colonies in the Terminus Systems. The Batarian's territory, like the Alliance, bordered on the Terminus Systems and for years they had been seen it at their right to expand their territory into the unclaimed systems there just like the Skillian Verge that had caused conflict between the Alliance and the Batarians years before. They had seen the establishment of the human colonies and an encroachment and violation of their sovereign territory.

Therefore the Batarians did everything they could, from an unsuccessful petition to the Citadel Council to attempting to forcibly removing humans from their colonies through the secret funding of pirates and slavers, to try and make the human colonies untenable. Following their defeat at the hands of the Alliance after the Skillian Blitz and their attack of the human world of Elysium a very active cold war was now in place between the Batarians and the Alliance.

Now the conflict between the two species mostly consisting of the aforementioned raiders and slavers, officially disavowed by secretly funded by the Batarian Hegemony, making lightning strikes against human colonies in disputed systems. So, from his research, it was the familiar and unwelcome sight of a Batarian pirate raider that he'd seen coming into land at Williamstown's spaceport.

Not wanting the helpless woman to be taken as a slave he'd picked her up out of the cocoon and carried her back into the brush surrounding the colony. There he'd put her down and hidden her under a large, thick bush with the intention of returning for her later.

With the woman safely hidden he'd carefully made his way back into the colony with the intention of getting to his accommodation and arming himself. Mysterious aliens that could paralyse you as you stood there he might not be able to deal with but he'd been sure that he could handle a few Batarian pirates.

Unfortunately for him his luck just wasn't with him because he'd barely made it two blocks towards his destination when he'd been discovered by three of the pirates. A long chase through the streets of the colony, strewn with the frozen bodies of its residents, had ensued with the Batarians taking pot shots at him whenever the opportunity presented itself. He'd dodged, weaved and used his resourcefulness to avoid their attacks as much as he could and had managed to keep one step ahead of them most of the time.

At one point, however, he'd been cornered by one of them in a blind alley and he'd had to confront the pirate directly. Thankfully he had enough energy and strength left so that he'd been able to leave the groaning Batarian on the ground of that alley as he'd sprinted off with his comrades in hot pursuit. But he was still feeling the pain from the encounter and was not looking forward to having to repeat it if he was cornered again.

It is from that same pursuit that he currently taking some small respite as he desperately thinks of what he can do next to keep out of the Batarian's clutches. The sound of pounding, booted feet close at hand tells him that his respite is over and that he's got to get moving.

Castle runs as fast as his now weary legs can carry him down the small alley between the accommodation pods and then around a corner into the next street. He manages to go a handful of meters before he skids for a stop at the sight of four armoured and heavily armed Batarians rounding a corner and into the street ahead of him.

He whips around but immediately sees that escape is impossible as the three Batarians that were behind him come rushing out of the alley he just came from. At the sight of him all seven of the pirates raise their various assault rifles, shotguns and sub-machine guns at him.

One of the group that had been pursuing him calls out to him, now frozen himself in the middle of the street, "On your knees, human."

Caught finally, too tired and in too much pain to even think of attacking so many, he slowly and wearily raises his arms above his head. Castle is about to follow the pirate's instruction when a small object comes flying through the air and lands at the feet of the four Batarians at one end of the street. They barely have time to react before there is a loud explosion as the grenade sends all four of the Batarians sprawling into the dust.

Castle cringes and ducks down at the explosion and looks around for the source of the grenade. The remaining Batarians are doing the same and at the same time Castle does they see an armoured figure come leaping from the top of a nearby two storey pre-fab building to land in a tumbling roll in the street between Castle and the three armed Batarians.

The figure comes out of their roll firing an assault rifle from their shoulder and in a matter of seconds two of the Batarians are down with smoking holes in their armour. The remaining pirate, the same one that had called out to Castle, tries to shoot the armoured figure that is now rushing towards him but the figure is too quick and agile seemingly able to dodge the fire that the now desperate Batarian is sending their way.

They come together and Castle sees a long orange blade materialise from the arm of his saviour that he recognises as an Omi-tool blade. With two fast swipes of the blade the Batarian first loses the front of his assault rifle and then his head.

As the helmeted head of the now very dead Batarian bounces in the dirt Castle turns as he hears the sound of a ship's engines screaming. What he sees is the Batarian raider ship rising into the air ungracefully. He next sees missiles and guns firing from the ship up at something unseen in the upper atmosphere.

He is distracted from the sight of what he hopes is the fleeing Batarian ship by the sound of footsteps beside him and he looks to find that the armoured figure that had just saved him from a life as a Batarian slave or worse now standing beside him looking up at the departing ship. Castle studies the figure and he now recognises on the black and red armour the stylised A with three stars insignia of the Systems Alliance on one shoulder plate and the N7 patch on the chest plate.

The Alliance soldier, who had seemingly come out of nowhere, then points up at the sky and a distinctly female voice comes from the full face helmet saying, "You won't want to miss this."

Castle looks up at what the woman is referring to in time to see the Batarian ship, now just entering the clouds and no longer directly over the colony, be enveloped in a blinding beam of red energy. The next instant there is a bright flash followed by a thunderclap of an explosion as the Batarian ship disintegrates. He blinks as and puts his arm in front of his face as the shock wave from the destruction of the ship reaches them like a solid wall of air. When he puts his arm down he sees that all that is left of the raider is a cloud of smoke and some fiery pieces of debris falling to the ground.

He takes a long sigh of relief at that and turns to thank his rescuer but before he can utter a word she holds up her hand and then steps away from him. Down the street two more armoured Alliance soldiers, both in the more usual blue Alliance armour, enter from around a corner. There they stop to check the four Batarians that the female soldier's grenade had taken care of.

As she gets closer to them Castle sees the smaller of the two shake his head negatively after running a scan over the bodies using the Omni-tool on his arm. The stockier to the two then addresses the female soldier as she approaches, "All clear, Commander. Bravo squad is doing a final sweep but with these seven that looks to be all of them."

The woman's shoulders visibly relax, even though her armour, at that news. She then clips her rifle onto the back of her armour and reaches up to remove her helmet. Castle walks up to the trio just as the Commander shakes her shoulder length brown hair loose from its confinement. As he steps up to them she turns to face him and his breath catches in his throat at the stunning face with hazel eyes that now looks at him.

Struck dumb at the sight of possibly one of the most beautiful women he has ever seen standing confidently in front of him in intimidating battle armour he barely registers the words that now come from the woman's, to his mind, very kissable lips, "I'm Commander Kate Beckett, SSV _New York_. You're safe now Mister…..?"

Castle shakes his head to clear his befuddled brain and with his most charming of smiles holds out his hand to the Commander to shake and replies, "Richard Castle, Commander Beckett, and boy am I glad to see you."

* * *

 _A/N: So Castle and Beckett meet. Bit of a long chapter because that is what I wanted to get to in this chapter but there was a lot to cover also including some more background to the Mass Effect universe._

 _I've tried to address the dichotomy from the games that Sheppard, a naval Commander, is also considered a soldier or marine and so my explanation came about of how Beckett could be leading the squad as well. Plus it gave me a chance to write Espo being a dick, sort of like he was to Castle during season seven._

 _Thanks to all that are taking the time to read this. I hope you are enjoying it._


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: Castle and Mass Effect do not belong to me. I like them both so much that my mind came up with this little story._

* * *

 _Corlinus 4 – Terminus Systems_

For about the tenth time since she sat down in the shuttle Commander Kate Beckett sidles a glance at the man sitting in the jump seat at the other end of the shuttle's passenger compartment. She can scarcely believe that it is her favourite author, Richard Castle, who is currently sitting not three meters away from her looking around the interior of the shuttle with wide eyed inquisitiveness.

For, regardless of her feigned ignorance when she introduced herself, she had indeed recognised who he was from the moment she first saw him in that street surrounded by Batarian pirates. The same handsome man whose picture she remembers studying only a week ago on the back of numerous of her hard copy books, when she unpacked her belongings in her miniscule cabin aboard the _New York._

As she focuses again on the floor of the passenger compartment and not at the man four seats away from her she asks herself, what is a best-selling mystery writer and renown playboy doing here in the Terminus Systems almost getting himself killed by Batarian pirates? Last she saw on the fan extranet page, that she may or may not check once a week, he was back in his home on Earth supposedly working on his next book. He's not supposed to be here, on the very dangerous frontier almost getting himself killed not to mention making a nuisance of himself.

Any awe she may have felt at meeting her favourite author in the flesh, not to mention saving him from being murdered or taken away to be a slave, was soon dissipated by the cocky and insufferable attitude of the man. After the destruction of the Batarian ship Beckett had tried to lead her squad in joining Bravo squad in a final sweep of the colony to ensure there were no pirates left on the ground. She says try because a certain author refused to leave her side or stop pestering her with questions the entire time.

The man was so insistent and distracting that in the end she'd left it to Major Esposito to take Ryan to link up with Bravo squad while she had reluctantly stayed with the civilian and half listened to his incessant babble. Despite the full face mask of his helmet Beckett is sure that Esposito had been smirking at her being left behind with the writer.

As her squad had departed she'd gone to the colony's administration building with Castle following on her heels like some overenthusiastic puppy. A puppy that would be bombarding her with questions one minute and then shamelessly flirting with her the next. After he'd asked, in what she is sure he thought was his most suggestive voice, what she was wearing under her armour she'd whirled on him bringing them both to a dead stop at the entrance to the administration building. With her hand deliberately resting on the butt of the pistol clipped to her thigh she had threatened to shoot him if he didn't shut up.

Infuriatingly, instead of being frightened or even looking lightly chastised, all he'd done was hold up his hands in mock surrender and then done a gesture in front of his mouth simulating zipping it shut and locking it all the while looking her cheekily in the eye. She given a frustrated huff and roll of her eyes at the man's reaction and spun back on her heels to resume entering the building.

And so it was for the rest of the day, that night and into the next day that they had spent on Corlinus 4 cleaning up after the raid. Everywhere she would go. No matter how hard she tried to avoid him. There he would be. Following her around with that sickeningly charming smile of his, pestering her with questions that varied in their appropriateness. From asking about the main armament of the _New York_ to whether thongs or cheekies were standard issue for underwear in the Alliance.

Unfortunately for her she also couldn't avoid him because Castle appears to be the only witness to what happened on Corlinus 4. Everyone else they found on the colony was in some form of stasis that Castle insisted was caused by some bugs so that some mysterious aliens could kidnap Williamstown's populous. It had taken several hours and the work of a medical team from the ship to wake the first of the colonists from their paralysis.

On doing so they had tried questioning them but they seemed to have lost all their short term memory. The last thing everyone they revived could remember was whatever ordinary task they were doing before they were attacked. They couldn't even remember being attacked. As each person was brought round they all said the same thing. One minute they were going about their normal daily business and the next they were waking up being asked a bunch of questions by some strangers.

The few cameras and sensors around the colony were no help either. As far as Ryan could tell some sort of self-deleting virus must have been uploaded to the colony's servers because they were totally blank. Not even a single line of code remained in their memory storage. There wasn't even a record of the distress call the colony sent out and the revived controller from the spaceport couldn't remember sending it let alone the reason why.

So, as the only conscious witness of the attack, she'd been ordered to take Castle up to the ship so that the Captain could debrief him for himself and for the writer to present his story by vid link to Alliance Command. Beckett wasn't convinced of Castle's story about unknown insectoid aliens. To her it just looked like the Batarians gassed the residents of Williamstown to make it easier to subdue them and it wasn't beyond their capabilities to have wiped the servers either. Then again she had to admit that she couldn't think of why the man would be lying.

"So, are you going to invite him back to your quarters to autograph your books?" comes the whispered and saucy voice of the person sitting next to her.

She looks up a fixes a glare at Dr Lanie Parish, Chief Medical Officer of the _New York_ and her friend as she answers in a hissing whisper, "Shut up, Lanie. He does not need to know that I've got any of his books and if you tell him I'll use your favourite party dress to clean my rifle."

Lanie gives her a teasing grin, "Whatever you say, sweetie. But don't tell me that this little scenario isn't something you haven't dreamt about for as long as I've known you."

"I said shut it, Dr Parish," Beckett hisses back even more insistently. "Whatever dream I may or may not have had its not survived actually meeting the smug bastard."

"Mmm hmm," hums back Lanie in a disbelieving tone.

Beckett had been truly glad when she discovered her old friend Doctor Lanie Parish was the CMO aboard the _New York_ but now she's not so sure _._ They'd both been at the Academy together and had their first assignment aboard the same ship, Beckett the fresh faced Ensign and Laine the eager young intern in the ship's sick bay. Lanie knew her the best out of all of the few friends her constantly moving career with the Alliance would allow. As a result the dark skinned, black haired woman could see straight through her when she was lying and even though she hates to admit it there is still a small part of her that does want to take Richard Castle to her cabin to 'show him her books'.

There is a slight jostling of everyone in the cabin followed by the ever present hum of the shuttle's engines decreasing as they power down. Making the correct assumption they they've arrived back aboard the ship Beckett quickly rises from her seat followed by the rest of her fellow passengers who consist of, besides Castle and Lanie, Ryan, Esposito and Nurse Clayton Lee. Ryan, with Castle being the closest to the main hatch, operates the control and the hatch slides up and to the side revealing the busy hanger deck of the _New York._

Ryan turns to the writer next to him and says, "If you'll follow me, Mr Castle. I'll take you to the Captain."

"Lead the way, Lieutenant," responds Castle affably but he is staring out at the activity on the hanger deck with undisguised curiosity.

Beckett feels a little guilty but towards the end of their time on the planet she'd ordered Ryan to make the writer his responsibility. Answer his questions, take his statement and generally make sure he doesn't disappear before the Captain has a chance to talk with him. All so she could get him out of her hair. That hadn't stopped the man, of course. No, he'd still kept following her around as much as possible until she had yell at him to leave her alone.

From then on Castle had stuck with Ryan and he'd seen him more than once, this shuttle trip up to the ship included, having whispered conversations with the Combat Engineer. She wasn't concerned if Castle was trying to find out her secrets from her squad mate. Having only known Ryan for a week he's got no secrets to tell. Beckett now sidles a glance at her friend next to her. Lanie on the other hand is another matter entirely. She's going to have to try and make sure the doctor and the writer have no chance to talk privately, especially about her.

Her contemplation on how to keep her best friend and favourite writer from communicating is interrupted by a shout of, "Dad!"

She looks around in time to see a mass of red hair in a blue and grey Alliance Navy day uniform slam into Castle as he is in the process of stepping out of the shuttle with and audible, "Oof!" from the author.

Everyone but Beckett looks on with varying degrees of surprise at the sight of their ship's pilot, Flight Lieutenant Alexis Castle, hugging the life out of their passenger. In the time Beckett now has been on the ship she's had the time to review all the personnel files of the crew and she admits that at the time when she read it she had been surprised to find out that 'Blue' was the daughter of her favourite author. She hadn't mentioned it, of course, and had resolved not to bring the matter up unless the young officer did first. Beckett had thought that as a result of Alexis serving on the ship that there might be a slight chance she could meet or interact with her father but that was some nebulous future possibility and not here and now.

It was because of this knowledge that she may have made a private call to the pilot to let her know of her father's presence on Corlinus 4, something Blue was totally unaware of. Beckett had reassured the young woman that he was unharmed and that she was bringing him up to the ship. The effusive thanks that the young woman had said down the line at her had made Beckett a little uncomfortable but she'd just told Blue that she was a daughter too and she'd want to know if her Dad was in a similar situation as soon as possible.

"Dad, are you OK? Are you hurt? Did they doing something to you? What are you doing here and why didn't you tell me? Last time we spoke….." fires off Alexis rapidly, looking up at her father's face while still gripping onto him for dear life.

Castle interrupts her frantic stream of words, "Alexis, Alexis, I'm fine. Not a scratch on me. Well, that's a lie I may have torn a nail so I may have to visit Vivienne for a full manicure when I get back to Earth but other than that no damage done. As for not telling you. My trip out here was a spur of the moment thing and I was going to tell you about it when we next spoke over vid chat. Anyway, what a coincidence, huh, that it's your ship that comes to my rescue. I think the universe meant it to happen just so I could see my little pumpkin in person again. It's been too long."

Alexis gives a roll of her eyes and semi annoyed huff that also had its share of affection in the tone, "Dad! Don't call me pumpkin when I'm in uniform and only you would think that a raid by Batarian pirates was really the universe looking for a way for you to see me."

Castle just smiles down at his daughter and says openly, "I'm just happy to see you, Alexis."

The young woman mirrors his smile as she drops her head to his shoulder as she retightens the hug and responds earnestly, "I'm happy to see you too, Dad."

Beckett feels a little uncomfortable watching such a touching moment between a father and a daughter. It also causes an unsettling feeling in her gut. A feeling of regard for the writer as an obviously loving father that is totally at odds with the immature jackass that had annoyed her back on the planet.

Therefore her clearing her throat loudly to end the tender moment is wholly because the Captain is expecting them and has nothing to do with the conflicting thoughts in her head as she says to the pair, "Sorry to interrupt, Flight Lieutenant, but the Captain is waiting to speak to your father."

A look of slight discomfort crosses Alexis' face as she releases her father, takes a measured step back and Beckett surmises that she is embarrassed at showing such an overt display of emotion that may not be normal protocol for an Alliance officer. The young officer squares her shoulders and answers in her best military tone, "Of course, ma'am. Sorry, ma'am. I don't mean to keep the Captain waiting."

Castle is obviously not ready to stop this reconnection with his daughter just yet as he turns and looks pleadingly at Beckett, "Commander, surely the Captain can wait? I haven't seen my daughter in person for over a year. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I have ten minutes alone with her to catch up."

Before Beckett can respond, Alexis answers for her, "It's OK, Dad. You should go see the Captain. I'm actually on duty, I just got my relief to cover for me so that I could come down here to meet you but I should be getting back to the bridge. I'll find you when I'm off duty, OK?"

Now a disconcerted look crosses across Castle's face for a nanosecond only to be replaced by a charming smile, a smile Beckett notices is different from the knowing one he's been flashing at her the rest of the time and which seems a lot more genuine from the man as he tells his daughter, "Ok, pumpkin, whatever you say."

Alexis rolls her eyes again and says before turning on her heels to head for the nearest lift, "Dad! I told you not to call me pumpkin when I'm in uniform and that goes double when I'm on duty." She takes a step and then turns slightly to look over her shoulder at Castle and says to him, "I'll see you later."

"See you later, Alexis," he replies pleasantly as he watches Alexis walk away, step into the lift and said lift doors close.

As the writer gives a sigh at the emotions he's obviously feeling at the reunion with his daughter Beckett is again contemplating whether she misjudged the man. It reminds her of another brief moment when the man contradicted the first impression he'd given her of him. When he'd become most concerned that they find one of the Williamstown residents that had been paralysed, a woman, apparently hidden in the brush surrounding the colony and therefore unlikely to be discovered otherwise. When Bravo squad had reported finding the woman, unhurt except for her paralysis right where Castle said they would, she had seen the genuine relief on his face and she'd been confused at the mismatch between his concern for a relative stranger and how annoying he was being with her.

Almost as if she can read her mind Beckett hears a smug whisper in her ear from Laine, "See, he's not all bad."

But before Laine can comment Castle turns to Beckett and says with the same fake charm he displayed on the planet, "So Commander shall we go see the Captain so that he can debrief me or would you like to take me somewhere private so that you can debrief me yourself." He finishes with a suggestive waggle of his eyebrows.

And there's the jackass again, thinks Beckett, as she responds, "Not if you were the last human in the universe, Mr Castle. Now if you'll come with us we'll take you to the Captain."

Fortunately for his health Castle remains silent for the journey to the conference room situated on the same deck as CIC and this time Beckett is surprised at the greeting the writer receives as they enter the room.

"Rick Castle! As I live and breathe. What the hell is a reprobate like you doing out here?" comes the surprisingly affable voice of Captain Roy Montgomery as they enter the room and he strides over to Castle to give him a more manly hug than he just received on the hanger deck.

"Roy, great to see you and you know I like to go where the action is," responds Castle jokingly as he returns the quick embrace before stepping back and asking, "How are Evelyn and the kids?"

"Oh, fine, fine. They'll get a kick out of hearing me running into you like this," answers the Captain as he gestures for Castle to take a seat at the table.

The Captain and the author take their seats and Beckett and the rest of the party that accompanied Castle up from the planet join them. As Esposito sits in the seat next to her he hears him mutter a questioning, "Roy?" in her ear.

Like her, and everyone else in the room, he is obviously surprised that their Captain knows their witness. She just shrugs her shoulders in response as the Captain looks around everyone seated before his gaze rests on her and he orders, "Report, Commander."

Beckett takes a breath before responding in her best professional manner, "As I mentioned in my initial report from the planet, the entire population of Williamstown was found paralysed, some of them encased in some form of transportation tube….."

"Or cocoon," interjects Castle unhelpfully.

Ignoring the interruption, Beckett continues, "With the help of Dr Parish's people we were able to revive a few but none of them can remember what happened to them or tell us how they got like that." Beckett pauses for a moment then, reluctantly, nods at Castle, "Mr Castle here would seem to be the only one that wasn't effected by whatever placed the rest of the colonists in stasis and the only one that can tell us what happened. At this time about a third of the colonists have been revived, among which are their own medical staff. They are now working with the Dr Parish's people to revive the rest. As for the Batarians. Their ship is a total loss, no survivors. We found fifteen armed Batarians in the colony. One group was in the process of taking Mr Castle prisoner so I had to take the down. The others engaged the rest of our people and they were forced to take them out as well. None of the Batarians survived."

The Captain gives a measured nod to her report then turns to Lanie, "What can you tell me, Dr Parish?"

"Well, Captain, whatever froze these people is something I've never seen before. In fact from the initial scans I took on the planet I still can't tell what did this to them. Scans of their blood, lungs and stomachs can find no sign of any foreign substances that they might have been injected with, breathed in or ingested that would explain this. They were all alive just in a perfect state of hibernation but damn if I can tell you what made them like that. I've brought back samples to run more thorough tests in the lab. If I find anything I'll let you know," reports the doctor seated on the other side of Beckett.

Montgomery then turns back to Beckett, "What about the Batarians? Did they do this?"

Beckett gives a dip of her head in acceptance of the idea, "It's possible, sir. They could have used some sort of undetectable gas to knockout the colonists to take them away to be slaves. They could have also wiped the servers so to leave no evidence they were involved. It's a plausible theory. Certainly more plausible that the one that Mr Castle has."

"It's not a theory, Commander, its fact. Fact I saw with my own two eyes. It wasn't the Batarians. It was someone new. Some new alien race that used a swarm of bugs to bite and inject the colonists with a paralysing agent before trying to kidnap them," counters Castle earnestly obviously not liking his word being brought into question.

"Actually he may be right about them being injected with something and it could have been done by a bug," interjects Laine at this point. "There were a few aliens, some Asari, Drell and Volus, on Corlinus 4 along with the human population and they were effected just as the humans were. Now to with all the different biology of everyone involved it had to be something pretty broad in spectrum for everyone to be paralysed. Then there are the Volus. The filters on their environmental suits would have filtered our anything gaseous or ingested so whatever paralysed them had to be injected. I examined their suits and did find what looked like two small puncture marks that self-sealed themselves which is just as well given their low tolerance for our atmosphere otherwise they would have exploded in their suits. As it is I still couldn't find anything in their blood that might explain this."

Montgomery turns in his seat to Castle and says, "Ok, Rick, why don't you tell me what you saw."

Castle then proceeds to tell his tale and to Beckett it's a tall tale indeed. Mysterious insect like aliens that turn up, freeze the colonists to kidnap them, then turn tail and disappear before they can complete their mission and then the Batarians show up. If she didn't know better she would think it was one of the more fantastic plots from the last few Derrick Storm books just before Castle killed him off.

At the end of his tale Montgomery studies him for a long moment before asking, "What time did these aliens arrive?"

Castle takes a moment to think, "Well I went to the bar at 3:30pm local time and it was about an hour and a half later that I saw the ship land so that would have made it around 5pm local."

"And what time did they leave," presses the Captain.

"Well I was too busy running from a cloud of paralysing bugs to check my watch but I'd say they were on the ground for no more that fifteen minutes before they bugged out, if you'll excuse the pun," answers Castle.

A contemplative look graces Montgomery's face for a few seconds as he contemplates something before he says, "Fifteen minutes, huh. About the time it took from when we got the distress call to when we got to the relay, interesting."

Beckett can see where her Captain is coming from and so do the others around the table as Esposito says, "But that would mean that they had some way of monitoring traffic through the relay network if they knew we were coming and no one knows how to do that."

"Or they had a probe stationed at the relay at this end which warned them of a ship coming through," adds Ryan at this point. "That would have given them half an hour to get away and even at FTL they could be hundreds of light years away by now."

"Either way, with the erasure of the servers whoever these aliens are they didn't want to be seen by anyone else," posits Montgomery.

"So we're believing Castle's story then, sir?" asks Beckett just so she is sure.

"Commander, I've known Richard Castle for more years than I care to remember and he would never lie to me about something like this so, yes, we believe him," Montgomery tells her making it clear in his tone that no more discussion will be entertained in the matter.

Beckett won't be put off so easily, however as she, respectfully asks, "What about the Batarians? How do they factor in all this?"

It's Castle who answers her instead of Montgomery, "I'd guess they were on their way here to raid the colony anyway and it was a coincidence that it was the same day that these aliens attacked. Detecting the Batarians' approach might be another reason why the aliens left before they could finish what they intended. The Batarians might just have just gotten lucky, or unlucky if you consider what ultimately happened to them."

At that moment there is a beep from the intercom above their heads and the voice of Yeoman Ellis is heard by all in the room, "Captain, sir, that call with Alliance Command is through. Admiral Byaduk is on the line ready for your report."

Montgomery raises his head to the ceiling of the room to answer, "Thank you, Yeoman. Route it through here to the conference room." He then turns to Castle and says, "Time to tell the brass what you saw, Rick." Then he addresses everyone else in the room and says, "We'll pick this up again after we've briefed command. Dismissed people."

Beckett and everyone else rise from their seats and troop out of the room. As the double doors swish shut behind them Beckett starts to seriously contemplate that the story that Castle told them is real. If it is real then what does it mean and what will it mean for her immediate future?

* * *

 _A/N:_ So what I'm going for here is the playboy persona of Castle from season 1 and not the character he became after his time with Beckett at the 12th. We'll just have to see if his time with Beckett in this universe turns him into the same man.

Thanks again to all that are taking the time to read this little adventure.


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: If I owned Castle or Mass Effect, which I don't, then my life would be a whole lot different._

* * *

 _SSV New York, Corlinus System – two days after the attack_

Castle pauses in the hatchway of the _New York's_ gym as he watches Commander Beckett lay several heavy punches and kicks into the heavy bag in front of her. To say he is mesmerised by how the beautiful, brown haired woman looks, dressed in black, figure hugging spandex leggings and a tank top, sweat glistening on the exposed, tanned skin that he can see, would be an understatement. Just as he was when she removed her helmet back on the planet he is captivated by her strength, poise and just plain hotness.

He probably spends too long staring in wonder at her because before long she says bitingly over her shoulder, not pausing at all in her current assault of the bag, "Well come in if you're going to come in or are you just going to stand there like a creep while I work out?"

Taking the cue Castle takes a couple of steps into the gym and in a slightly apologetic voice while yet still not breaking his gaze from her lithe form as he says, "Ah, sorry, didn't mean to interrupt."

As the hatch to the gym slides shut behind him Beckett lands a few more punches on the bag and then one sweeping round house kick. A kick so hard that it makes Castle think that if the bag had been a person their head would be rolling across the deck of the gym just like that Batarian pirate's did after Beckett decapitated him with her Omni-blade. She then stops, turns on him and asks, plainly frustrated, "Did you want something, Mr Castle? Or did you just come down here to annoy me again?"

Forgetting for the moment the main reason he'd sought her out, which was not just to see her again, he decides to try again with some of the flirting he had with her on the planet. He gives her his most suggestive smile and tries to project the best-selling author charm that has held him in such good stead for so many years as he answers, "What I want, Commander, we can get to another time. Though the sight of you all flushed and sweaty has definitely given me some ideas in that direction."

She gives an annoyed huff at that, turns away, takes a few paces and picks up a white towel from a bench sitting against one wall of the gym. She starts towelling the sweat from her body as she turns back to face him and responds in the same annoyed tone he'd head from her on the colony, "I think you'll find what you want and what you'll actually get are two entirely different things, Mr Castle."

"Please, call me Rick, and I think you'll find that I usually get what I want," he says back to her with a suggestive tone to make it clear what, or rather, who he wants.

This time she rolls her eyes and a rather appealing growl of anger comes from deep within her throat before she says, "Look, Mr Castle, I'm finished here and I've got to get changed. I have duties. Unlike you I can't just swan around the galaxy, going wherever the mood takes me. I work for a living so why don't ask me what you came down here to ask me and then I can get on with my life."

Castle is a little taken aback at the woman's aggressive attitude. Just like on the planet rather than falling for his charm and good looks she actually seems to be angry that he is paying her so much attention. For a while he just thought this was the type of by-play they had between them but she seems honestly annoyed at his attempts to flirt with her. This has never happened before. Beside one or two exceptions in his youth he's never been so quickly rejected by a woman he's shown interest in and boy is he interested in Commander Kate Beckett.

In the brief second he takes before he answers he decides that he needs to take a new tack with Beckett….honesty. Putting aside his fake charm he gives her a sincere look, "I'm sorry, Commander. I'll try not to hold you up but I do have a question to ask you. I was wondering if…."

Before he can ask what he wants to ask a woman's voice comes from the ship's PA in the ceiling of the gym, " _All hands! All hands! Set condition Yellow throughout the ship. All hands to your alert stations!"_

As a shrill alarm klaxon starts sounding from the PA Beckett, towel looped around her shoulders immediately walks quickly and purposefully past him and out of the gym. Castle whips around and scrambles to follow her, dodging around several hurrying crew members in the corridor outside and just manages to catch up with her as she enters the lift a couple of hatches down from the gym. She gives him yet another annoyed look as he joins her and she pushes a control at the side of the door. Not wanting to annoy her further and curious at what all the commotion is about Castle stays silent and soon the doors of the lift open to the sight of what he supposes must be the ship's CIC.

Not sparing him a glance Beckett strides from the lift and over to where Captain Montgomery is standing at the control panel in front of the large holographic map of the galaxy in the centre of the room. Castle is close on her heels and again has to dodge around crew members as they move with intent around him.

He arrives at Beckett's side in time to hear her ask, "Trouble, sir?"

Roy looks at the map for a moment longer before turning to her and nodding, replies, "Looks like it, Beckett. Yeoman Ellis picked up a signal from a freighter in the Gallis System only one relay jump away. They're at the human colony on Makawi for a scheduled pick-up and report the entire population has disappeared. No damage to the structures or equipment but there is no one there and no sign of where they've gone."

"Just like what would have happened here on Corlinus 4 if your ship hadn't been so close," adds Castle helpful standing next to Beckett.

Both Montgomery and Beckett shoot him looks at his interruption before they turn back to each other and Beckett asks, "Why are we on alert, sir?"

"According to the freighter's Captain they had routine contact with the colony up to two hours before they were due to arrive. That means there's a chance that whoever took those colonists could still be close. As we are nearby Alliance Command want us to investigate. We should be in the Gallis System in less than an hour and given the attack here and now there I want us to be at alert at all times until I'm sure these aliens that Rick described aren't still around."

Beckett then indicates with her head and asks, "What about Mr Castle here? Should we send him back down to Williamstown before we go?"

To Castle, the hopeful tone Beckett has as she asks her questions, makes him think that she might be just a bit keen to get rid of him. He sees, with relief, Montgomery shaking his head negatively, "I've already had Blue set course to the relay." Montgomery turns an apologetic look to Castle, 'Sorry, Rick but time is of the essence. I'm afraid you're stuck aboard until our next stop at a safe colony or station or rendezvous with an Alliance bound ship."

Relieved because the last thing Castle wants is to be shunted off the _New York_ he casually waves away Montgomery's apology, "No problem, Roy. This gives me a chance to spend more time with Alexis plus I'm curious about what these aliens are up to so I've got no objection accompanying you."

Montgomery gives him an appraising look and then at Beckett and Castle can tell that his old friend may have picked up in the fact that it wasn't only Alexis that Castle wanted to spend more time with. However Montgomery doesn't say anything more and it is Beckett that says unhelpfully with a tinge of desperation in her voice, "Sir, we could put him in an escape pod and shoot him back to Corlinus 4. We should still be in range. There's no need to take a civilian with us on such a potentially dangerous mission."

But again Montgomery shakes his head again, "Beckett, I'm not going to waste a perfectly good escape pod to send one man back to the colony. No, Rick comes with us. Besides, as the only one that's seen these aliens and their ship he'll be able to identify them if we encounter them."

Castle is so pleased at Montgomery's answer that he almost misses the disgruntled look that crosses Beckett's face at the news he is staying with them, if only of the time being. She definitely doesn't want him on board. There goes the idea he had earlier when he'd gone down to the gym with the intention of asking the Commander if he could shadow her and her squad for research for his next book.

As Montgomery moves away to talk to another crewmember at a nearby console and Beckett quickly departs the CIC obvious to change out of her work-out gear, Castle stays at the galaxy map, thinking. Ever since he met the beautiful and tough Commander he's had that familiar tingle in his fingers and buzz in his brain that tells him he has new characters and plots in his mind that he just has to get out. It is a feeling he thought he'd lost but a mere couple of days in Beckett's presence and it is back and he in no way wants to lose it. So, as the crew of the _New York_ had finished up their clean-up after the attack on Williamstown he'd come up with the idea to ask Beckett if he could shadow her and watch her work so that he could keep the inspiration flowing. It would also allow him more time to get to know the Commander.

He had hoped that she would be so flattered with the idea that she would agree without hesitation and then together they would have presented the idea to Montgomery for his approval. Her obvious disquiet at his continuing presence aboard the ship has him re-evaluating his strategy. He has to come up with another plan so that he can stay aboard the _New York_ and at Beckett's side.

For despite his current good fortune he has no doubt that at the first convenient opportunity Beckett will make sure he's booted off the ship and away from her. He can't let that happen because he needs her as an inspiration and how is she going to fuel his inspiration if he can't see her in action for himself. Of course he also needs her in more baser ways and he's confident that if he spends enough time with her he will get past her barriers and she will start seeing him in a more aggregable light.

Perhaps there is another way. It's a way that may not exactly enamour him to the gorgeous Commander and may even get Roy off side if he doesn't play it right but he's got to make sure he stays on the _New York._ Also, if he pulls this off, then there is the added bonus that he'll be able to spend even more time with Alexis as well. That reason alone decides him to proceed with his idea. He just hopes he can pull it off.

* * *

 _Sorito colony – Makawi, second planet in the Gallis System, Terminus Systems_

Beckett stubs her armoured toe in the dirt in the empty main street of Sorito colony and watches the brown dust cover her boot as she stands in front of the latest home that she and her squad have just searched. There's no one here. The entire trading colony that last reports said had a population of approximately five thousand humans is a ghost town.

All the structures are intact, no damage to them at all and there is no clear sign to what has happened to the colony's inhabitants. Whatever happened, happened quickly because in some of the dwellings they've found food still on the table and holo-screens still playing whatever entertainment the occupant was watching at the time. But the thing that really struck her when the shuttle doors opened on this empty place was the silence. The audio pick-ups in her armour were detecting none of the sounds that they would normally be filtering in what should be a bustling trading colony. So it was the absence of sound that has her most on edge. What happened here? She asks herself.

The only thing that might indicate what happened here was a large burn pattern in the ground at the edge of the colony, which they'd seen from orbit, indicating the landing place of a large ship. It is the same burn pattern that they'd seen in the centre of Williamstown on Corlinus 4. Therefore it looks like Castle was right and the same aliens that tried to abduct the colonists on Corlinus 4 were more successful here. Not that she was going to admit that to the ego driven writer.

"Boy is this place a ghost town or what?" comments the voice of Richard Castle unhelpfully behind her.

Insider her helmet Beckett rolls her eyes but refrains from responding to Castle regardless of the fact that she was just thinking along the same lines herself. She does turn however to see the writer, in borrowed navy blue Alliance armour, making his way down the couple of steps from the same dwelling she just exited. Blue armoured Ryan and Esposito are following the writer down the steps their heads on swivel looking for any possible threats but Beckett has a feeling that they aren't going to find any.

In fact she's sure that whoever did this is now long gone and that, besides the burn pattern, they are going to find no evidence of what happened here. Therefore there is no danger but it doesn't pay to be complacent so she approves of the alertness of her squad mates. However no matter how hard they look she's sure they are not going to find anything that will help them identify who is responsible for this. That those responsible for this are these mysterious insectoid aliens that Castle described is looking to be more likely.

It is why the Captain ordered her to bring the writer with them as they made their sweep of the colony. Upon seeing the burn pattern from orbit Castle and almost jumped up and down in his insistence that the same aliens he saw attack Williamstown attacked here. With the ships sensors showing no sign of any other ships, other than the freighter at the space port that made the initial discovery, or of any signs of life other than the freighter's crew, Montgomery had deemed it safe for a civilian to accompany them. Over her strenuous objections the Captain insisted she take the writer with her so that he could be on hand if they found any evidence they could link to Castle's aliens so that he could corroborate it.

"I can't help but think that this is what Williamstown would have been like if the Batarians and you guys hadn't shown up," says Castle through speaker in his full face helmet and Beckett admits to herself that he's probably right.

In her ear Beckett hears a report from Bravo squad that they are finding nothing as well and she says to the unseen Lieutenant Karpowski, leader of Bravo squad, "Acknowledged, Bravo leader. Make your way back to the spaceport and secure the landing zone. The Captain will be coming down shortly to see this for himself. Alpha leader, out!"

After Karpowski gives her acknowledgement Beckett turns to her squad just as Esposito asks, "Writer-boy here is right, Commander. We ain't finding nothing. Their all long gone. So what's our next move?"

"We'll check out the colony's servers in the town hall. Perhaps they've got something that will tell us what happened. What about you Ryan, you picking up anything?" she asks the Combat Engineer as he is currently scanning the surrounds with the orange holographic Omni-tool on his left forearm.

The helmeted head of the Lieutenant shakes his head as he answers, "Negative, Commander. No airborne contaminates, no radiation and no life signs. Everyone just up and disappeared and there's nothing to show for it. Not that I can detect anyway."

"Ok, well maybe we'll find something on the servers. Let's move out!" she orders, indicating with the rifle cradled in her two hands the direction they should go.

She's taken half a dozen long strides down the street in the direction of the town hall when there is the sound of quick steps shuffling in the dust catching up to her soon followed by the now annoyingly familiar voice of Richard Castle beside her, "We won't find anything, you know."

"Actually I don't know that. Not until we look for ourselves. We can't afford to make assumptions. We have to look for evidence and look for it everywhere. We don't get to make stories up on just a few brief observations. We have to look for facts," she counters not breaking her stride down the street.

"Come on, Commander. It's obvious that what happened here is what was supposed to happen to Williamstown. I saw the ones responsible there so I know who did this and how they did it. They used the same bugs that I saw to paralyse the colonists and they've taken them away in those same cocoons we found there as well. It's why Ryan isn't picking anything up. He wouldn't if they were all bitten by the bugs," argues Castle his long legs matching her quick stride.

"Basing our report on what happened here on the theory of one unreliable eye-witness that wasn't even here at the time is not how we do things, Mr Castle. No, we have to find hard evidence of what happened here and frankly, as you seem not to have anything useful to contribute, I have half a mind to send you back to the shuttle to wait with Bravo squad for the Captain's arrival. Because you're not doing anything here with us at the moment other than annoying me," she shoots back at him aggressively despite the fact that her gut is telling her that the man is right.

"Commander…Kate…believe me when I say that I saw what I saw and what I saw matches with what happened here. We may not find any of this 'hard evidence' that you are looking for. In fact I'll bet we won't but my gut is telling me that the same creatures I saw on Corlinus 4 did this and I know that your gut is telling you the same thing," Castle says to her with surprising sincerity.

Beckett tries not to dwell to deeply on his use of her first name, the strange flip in her stomach at hearing him say it in such a sincere tone. Or the fact that he just expressed the same gut feeling that she has about this whole situation. No, she can't afford to let this man get under her skin. She's got a job to do and she can't let whatever residual feelings she has for her favourite writer divert her from her mission.

However she does concede that what little they've found here matches Castle's theory so she does say, reluctantly, "Look, I'll admit that you could be right. The Captain certainly believes your story and I trust the Captain but Alliance Command, not to mention the families and loved ones of the people that were here, deserve the truth. A truth that has come from a thorough investigation and not a theory based on brief observations and what happened on a planet two systems away."

Castle's helmet nods vigorously as they make their way into the dimmer interior of the lobby of the town hall, "Of course, Commander. All I ask is that you keep an open mind."

"I'll try, Castle. If you will promise that, if we find out this doesn't match your theory, you will leave the ship at our next port of call. Agreed?" Beckett presses the man, facing him having brought them to a halt in the lobby while Esposito and Ryan walk past them to go deeper into the building.

There is a long pause and Beckett guesses that the writer it mulling over before he answers, "I agree Commander that if we find out this has nothing to do with what I saw on Corlinus 4 and if there is no other reason for me to be on the ship then I will leave as you ask."

Now Beckett takes a long pause as she considers Castle's line about 'no other reason for me to be on the ship'. It sounds like a loophole to her but before she can call him on it Ryan calls out from a doorway behind the large reception desk that is at the back of the lobby, "Found the servers, Commander. Did you want to check them out before I start on them?"

Distracted from what she was about to say she turns and walks over to the Lieutenant saying, "Let me have a look, Ryan."

As she enters the server room behind Ryan and with Castle following her there is a niggling feeling in the back of her mind that she really should get Castle to explain that last comment.

* * *

 _Williamstown, Corlinus 4_

The woman steps onto the round black dais in the centre of her accommodation pod and waits for the connection to be made.

She is pissed off. When the unknown alien ship had landed in the centre of the colony she'd headed for the observation post she'd selected days earlier on top of one of the taller buildings near the edge of the colony and then that's it. The next thing she remembers is some voluptuous back skinned doctor in an Alliance uniform looking down at her asking her if she felt ok.

Her memory is blank of what happened after she left her quarters and the memory of the sensors she'd secreted about the colony were just as blanks as well. She'd maintained her cover however over the last few days as the crew of the Alliance cruiser that answered the colony's distress call carried out their investigation into what happened.

To whichever uniformed Alliance officer that asked she was just a visiting business woman from a mid-sized transportation concern in Alliance space here on Corlinus 4 to negotiate a contact to transport the colony's Palladium to the Alliance. She had told them that she had no memory what happened before she'd found herself being woken up in the makeshift tent hospital the Alliance had set up to deal with the paralysed residents of Williamstown. That she was in the unusual position for her to be actually telling the truth was just another bizarre part of what has turned out to be a very annoying mission for her.

She is annoyed and pissed off because she has failed in her mission and she never fails to complete her mission. She has no idea what happened and from the little she's been able to find out before the crew of the Alliance ship left, they had no definitive idea either. Oh, there was talk and the wreckage of a ship to indicate that Batarian pirates attacked the colony but she refuses to believe that the Batarians could be responsible for incapacitating her, wiping her memory and deleting the data from her very well camouflaged sensors.

Then there is Richard Castle.

From afar she'd seen the man accompanying the female Commander that was in charge of the Alliance crew on the ground and from the exasperated look she'd seen on the woman's face she'd felt a twinge of sympathy for the woman. No doubt Castle was trying to be his usual charming and annoying self in his attempts to get inside the admittedly beautiful Commander's armoured pants. Then the few conversations she'd been able to bug between some of the Alliance personnel had indicated that the writer has some information on what happened here. One conversation she'd overheard had even indicated that he was the sole witness to what happened.

She's resolved to put aside her personal feelings about the man and, for the mission, reveal herself to Castle so that she could learn what he knew but before she could he'd been transported up to the Alliance ship. Then not two hours ago her hack into the colony's space traffic control had shown her the Alliance ship leaving, taking Castle with it.

There is a beep from the dais she is standing on and a ring of light starts to emanate from it. Soon the view of her quarters is replaced as she is surrounded with a holographic image of the silhouette of a man sitting in a large room in front of a bank of holo-screens. Beyond the man and the screens is the image of a large red sun viewed through what she suspects is a very heavily polarised wall to ceiling view port. There is a flare of light near the head of the silhouetted figure soon followed by an exhale of smoke as the man takes a drag of the cigarette that she has yet to see him without.

As the cloud of smoke dissipates in the air around the man's head a rich, cultured voice demands, "Report?"

Trying to tamp down the unaccustomed nerves she is feeling at what she is about to tell her boss she says with as much of a businesslike manner as she can muster, "Approximately two days ago the colony was attacked. I detected a large ship approaching and landing at the colony and I went to investigate. I regret to report that the next thing I can recall is being awoken here by the crew of an Alliance cruiser that answered a distress call from the colony. Like me all the inhabitants, bar one, were rendered unconscious and have no memory of what occurred in the intervening time. There is evidence that Batarian pirates attacked the colony but from what I could determine they don't seem to be the ones responsible for incapacitating everyone."

"You said, bar one?" queries the man pointedly.

"Yes sir, from what I was able to discover a Richard Castle, was the only person on the colony who was not rendered unconscious and therefore witnessed what happened," she answers quickly before adding regretfully. "Unfortunately, he was taken aboard the Alliance ship, the _New York,_ before I could interrogate him and the ship has since left the system with him on board."

The shadowy man, otherwise known as 'The Illusive Man' head of the pro-human organisation known as Cerberus, takes another draw on his cigarette before speaking again, almost casually, "I know Richard Castle is the only witness to what happened. Our sources in Alliance Command informed me of what he told them. That a race of as yet unidentified aliens attacked the colony and would have kidnapped the entire population, even you, if it wasn't for the coincidental presence of the Batarians and the arrival of the Alliance cruiser. These same sources have just told me that another colony, on Makawi, has also just been attacked. The same ship that Mr Castle is aboard, the _New York_ , was sent to investigate and their initial reports are that the entire population of the colony, all humans, have disappeared."

"From what little I was able to find out before the _New York_ left confirms the reports from our agents in the Alliance that the same thing almost happened here, sir," she adds.

She can just make out the nodding head of the figure as he says, "Cerberus was founded to protect human's interests against the insidious plans of aliens in this ever hostile galaxy. The kidnapping of such a large number of humans by an alien menace is just the type of event I created Cerberus to prevent. We can't trust the Alliance, those toadies of the Citadel Council. No, we have to do this for ourselves. I will not stand idly by while humans are abducted and god knows what is done to them. However, we need more information. Information that it would seem that only Richard Castle can provide. Someone I recall you are intimately familiar with."

Having a feeling that she knows where this is going the woman asks a question to confirm her suspicions, "Yes, sir. I know Mr Castle. What are your orders, sir?"

"I think it is time for you to return to working for your other employers, Alliance Central Intelligence. As an ACI agent I want you to join the crew of the _New York_ , find out what they and Mr Castle know and then report back to me. Use your previous history with the man to gain his trust. Get close to him so that you get the full story," the Illusive Man orders.

"And then, sir?"

She can almost hear the smile in his voice as he answers, "And then I want you to keep tabs on the Alliance's investigation into this. We can't let them get in our way. Saving human colonies from an alien threat, besides being the reason for our organisation's existence, is just the type of positive story that will change the general public's perception of us as a terrorist organisation. I have an idea on a current project that may help with this and the Alliance can't be allowed to interfere with that. So I trust you to keep me fully informed in what they are up to, Agent Turner."

* * *

 _A/N: There you go. I didn't forget that mysterious woman from chapter one. How many guessed she was certain Agent Turner?_

 _Thanks very much to everyone reading this story. I hope you are enjoying it._


	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: I did not create and I do not own Castle or Mass Effect. This is just what my strange imagination came up with. Castle fans may read some familiar dialogue in this chapter._

* * *

 _Sentinel Base – Systems Alliance forward base in the Attican Traverse_

Beckett strides down the rocky corridor of Sentinel Base answering a summons from Captain Montgomery. They've been here on the asteroid orbiting the gas giant Hebat in the Chandrasekhar system for three days now following their unsuccessful attempt to track down those responsible for the disappearance of the colonists on Makawi.

They'd spent a week searching the systems surrounding Makawi and had found nothing and while they were doing that two other human colonies on the far side of the Terminus Systems were also attacked with the same result. All the inhabitants gone and no sign of who took them or where or why.

After the second colony was attacked the Alliance announced its intention to send a task force of ships to the region to try and track down the culprits when politics reared its unhelpful head. While there was no acknowledged unifying government or alliance to link the disparate colonies in the Terminus Systems they do co-operate when they perceive their independence is threatened and the Alliance sending a flotilla into their region was seen as such a threat.

What passed for governments on the more powerful colony worlds protested to the Citadel Council at the intended Alliance encroachment and the Council had ordered the Alliance to not send the task force. Alliance Command had even recalled the _New York_ and so they had spent the subsequent days here, on the asteroid, debriefing a bunch of Admirals while restocking supplies and allowing the crew what passed for R & R on this small enclosed base.

Becket was annoyed that their search for the attackers of the human colonies had been cut short before they could even really get started. She knew the Captain had protested but Command had ignored him and so here they are. Cooling their heels on this rock while innocent people's lives are threatened by some unknown force.

Of course, Castle keeps insisting that they aren't unknown but are the same aliens that he saw on Corlinus 4 and Beckett hates to admit it but he could be right. No known alien race has the capability or the reason to abduct entire populations like this. If it was slavers, for instance, they wouldn't take everyone, only the young and the fit, and there would be a lot more damage at the colonies as well.

The writer had told his story to the Admirals and she'd seen the scepticism on their faces as he did so. She'd actually felt sorry for the man as he was disbelieved by everyone in authority though that still hadn't lessened her own personal annoyance with the man. All through the week they were searching for his mysterious aliens and just like at Williamstown, Castle would not leave her alone. As on Corlinus 4, everywhere she went on the ship, on duty and off, he was there, asking questions, flirting and 'observing'.

She'd protested to the Captain but all he'd said was that as long as he didn't actually interfere with her performing her duties Castle could go where he liked on the ship, within reason. He was not allowed in certain classified, dangerous or private areas of the ship. Therefore Beckett had taken to spending more than the usual amount of time than she normally would in the armoury, secure comms room, female showers and her own quarters, to avoid seeing his smarmy grin every time she turned around. If anyone had asked and Lanie had, much to her chagrin, she had important duties to attend too in each location and she was in no way hiding from the author.

She had partly dreaded their arrival here at Sentinel Base given the spare time that it allowed Castle to pester her even more. She had therefore refused the offer for R & R from the Captain because she did not want to give Castle another opportunity to stalk her. Beckett had steeled herself to more annoyance from the man over the last three days but surprisingly he'd mostly left her alone. While she'd remained mostly on the ship he'd spent most of his time here on the base. The one time she had seen him, in the mess hall on the ship having lunch with his daughter, he'd greeted her charmingly but had muttered something at the end about having to leave to attend a game with his 'Big Chair' crew.

Now, as she makes her way to meet with the Captain she is feeling optimistic regarding the situation with Castle. Beckett suspects the reason the Captain has asked to see her is to tell her that their time here at the base is at an end and that they will be heading out soon. If she is right then she'll finally be able to say goodbye to her annoying Castle shaped shadow because now that they are at an Alliance base there is no need for Castle to remain aboard. He can arrange passage back to Earth from here and she can continue on her way and put the whole disappointing encounter behind her. For she is just a bit disappointed and disillusioned that her favourite author has turned out to be such an annoying man child with an obvious obsession for her.

As if her thoughts about the man could make him appear, as she rounds a corner, she sees him exit from a room further down the corridor. He immediately spots her, stops, leans against the rocky wall just in front of the door with his arms crossed and gives her that smile that annoys her the most. The knowing one that says that he knows what he wants from her and that he expects that he'll get it. It is that smile that really makes here want to slap him but somehow she restrains herself.

"Why, Beckett, fancy meeting you here," Castle says to her as she nears him.

"Sorry, Castle, can't stop to entertain you. I've got orders to see the Captain," she tells him hoping that it will fall stall the man from delaying or following her.

"Oh, I know. I was just in there speaking to Roy myself," Castle tells her smugly, indicating with his head the room he just exited. He then pushes himself off the wall, stands up straight, holds out his hand and says to her in the most serious voice she's heard him use yet, "I just want to say it has been a pleasure to watch you work, Commander."

Taken aback by the sincerity in his tone she misses the small twinkle in his eye as he says these words. Thinking that he is saying goodbye and not wanting to be rude she gives his a slight smile as she returns the handshake, "Uh, no problem, Castle. You weren't too bad, when you learnt to shut up, that is."

"Maybe next time we're both on Earth or at the Citadel I could take you to dinner and we could debrief each other about our time together?" he asks her now with a hint if suggestion in his voice.

Again, thinking that she would never see him again she decides to play his game for once as she takes a half step towards him and looking him in the eye says teasingly, "Why? So that I can be another one of your conquests."

Castle smiles widely back at her and shrugs his shoulder, "Or maybe I could be one of yours."

She returns the look but gives a small shake of her head as she responds, "I think not."

He gives her a heated look as he says, "Too bad. It would have been great."

Caught up in the moment she smiles, bites her bottom lip, pulls on their still linked hands so that they are much closer together and in his ear says huskily, "You have no idea."

With that last word she releases his hand, saunters past him and into the room he just exited. Beckett doesn't dwell on the fact that before the double doors clang shut behind her she can feel Castle's eyes on her ass the entire time. Nor does she think too hard on how she gives a little extra sway to her hips as she walks past him knowing what he would be looking at.

With the Castle now behind her in reality and for the foreseeable future she gives a sigh of relief and again does not analyse the slight pang of disappointment deep inside her at the man's immanent departure. She straightens her shoulders as she sees Montgomery standing next to a wall mounted holo-screen, fixed to one wall of the small office that he had been assigned to work from when on the base.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" she says to her superior banishing any lingering thoughts about the ruggedly handsome writer.

"Ah, Beckett, I just finished a discussion with Alliance Command and I have some news," he tells her with a distinctly Cheshire cat like grin on his face.

Put off by the grin she asks uncertainly, "News, Sir?"

"Yes, apparently you have a fan," he tells her as if it is a great joke.

"A fan, sir?" she asks just as puzzled as when this discussion started.

"Rick Castle. Seems he's found the main character for his next set of novels. A tough, but savvy female Alliance commando," Montgomery says now still with his joking tone but with just a hint of pride in his voice at his mentee being considered so.

Beckett has gone from puzzled to surprised at this news given the very cold shoulder she'd shown Castle during their brief time together but it with a puzzled tone that she responds, "I'm flattered."

"Don't be. He says he has to do research," the Captain says dropping the bomb on her.

Fully realising what her Captain is telling her she says in horror, "Oh no."

"Oh, yes," Montgomery nods with that Cheshire cat grin back on his face as he confirms her worst fears.

"No way!" she exclaims wanting to make it clear that she is not going to accept this.

"Beckett listen….," Montgomery starts but she doesn't let him finish because she has to make it clear that this cannot stand.

"Sir, he is like a 9 year old on a sugar rush. Totally incapable of taking anything seriously" she tells him adamantly.

"But he is also the only witness to what happened on Corlinus 4," Montgomery counters.

Beckett looks away briefly giving a huff of exasperation as Montgomery continues, "The Alliance has brokered a deal with the Terminus Systems to allow one Alliance ship free access to their space to investigate the attacks on the human colonies. That ship is us and as Castle is the only one that has seen those responsible Command wants to keep him close. Him requesting to stay aboard to shadow you meets their needs perfectly and therefore makes them happy. So when Command is happy the Admiral is happy and when the Admiral is happy, I'm happy."

"How long, sir?" Beckett asks, exasperated that politics are interfering with her life so.

"At the very least until we stop these attacks and catch whoever is responsible but ultimately it's up to him," Montgomery says indicating with his head to the sound of the opening of the double doors behind her.

She turns and there she sees the smuggest of smug grins on the face of the man she just flirted with standing in the doorway. From the amused look in his eye she knows she is going to regret this.

* * *

 _SSV New York – in transit, Terminus Systems, three days later_

Castle extracts a handful of books from the crate and looks around the converted store room that are now his quarters on the _New York._ It had taken his best smooth talking and the promise of a case of eighteen year old scotch to his friend Roy to get him these 'private' quarters on the ship.

Given that his presence on board was no longer going to be short term he'd argued that he required somewhere private to allow him to work on his writing in peace. Prior to this, during the days after the attack on Corlinus 4, with space on board the cruiser at a premium, he had been forced to 'hot bunk' with the ship's Chief Engineer. A thoroughly disagreeable man by the name of Lieutenant Commander Sidney Perlmutter.

A shiver of distaste goes down Castle's spine at the still warm, unchanged sheets of the bunk he had to use when the thick set and balding engineer was on duty. There was no way such sleeping arrangements were going to stand if he was spending an indefinite period of time aboard. As Beckett had shot down his request to share her quarters with her he had made his case for his own private place to sleep and work. Roy had eventually agreed but left it to Beckett to find the space for him.

Castle is sure that Beckett chose this cabin as a small measure of punishment for his earlier suggestion that they share but to be frank he is more than satisfied with the space. Sure it is small, the whole cabin is barely the same size as his study in his loft back on Earth, but with the crates of supplies normally stored here moved out there is enough room for him.

He is not some prima donna. He knows space on a warship is limited and despite is wealth and love for the finer things in life he actually likes things simple sometimes. So this place with its single bunk, small desk, space to hang his clothes and the shelves that once held stores but now hold the few personal belongings he'd been able to get express couriered from Earth, is perfect.

"I think you should put those over there, Dad," comes the pleasant sounding voice of his daughter, Alexis. He looks over at her, perched on top of the tallest of the crates he had shipped from Earth, dressed in her blue and grey Alliance working uniform and pointing at one of the empty shelves bolted along one wall. Seeing her sitting there, her legs kicking in the air as they don't reach the ground, he is reminded of the little girl that would sit in the edge of his desk and watch him write and not the woman he sees before him now.

Nodding in agreement at her suggestion he moves over to the shelves to place the books on the shelves and says, "I think you're right, pumpkin. Just the spot."

As he arranges the books in the order he prefers, from behind him Alexis says, "I still can't believe that not only were you able to talk you way into shadowing Commander Beckett but that you were also able to wrangle yourself some private quarters. Everyone on board, with the exception of senior officers, has to share space with someone else. I share a cabin with three other junior officers but yet you manage to get a cabin all to yourself. It's remarkable."

"I know, right," he agrees, turning, grinning at her childishly and she grin back at him while at the same time giving an eye roll that he's seen more than a few times from one tough female Commander recently.

It is then that he recalls from a couple of their vid chats over the years that his daughter is in more than a little in awe of the famous, in military circles, Commander Beckett. It would seem to him that even after only serving with Beckett with such a short time, Alexis is already starting to mimic some of the Commander's mannerisms.

As he moves back to one of the crates to unpack more of his belongings Alexis asks him shrewdly, "So tell me the truth, Dad. Why did you use your connections to get to stay here on the _New York_? Is it really about a new character based on Commander Beckett or is there another reason?"

He pauses, his antique laptop that he writes all his first chapters on for good luck in his hands and avoids looking her in the eye to begin with because besides his mother, Alexis is probably the only other person that knows his tells. However he decides to be truthful with her because he has never lied to Alexis, at least not about important stuff.

So he eventually looks her in the eye and with some mild sheepishness admits, "While the new character is real and having been inspired to write again after so long are some of the main reasons I'm here I won't deny that there are other reasons why I'm aboard. Being close to you is another big one because I've missed spending more than a couple of weeks a year with you or the odd hour each week we are able to manage to talk over the comms. I'm just lucky that Uncle Bob is such a fan of my work and an old poker buddy that he agreed to let me do this."

"If by Uncle Bob, you mean Bob Weldon, the Minister of Defence for the Systems Alliance, then yes it is lucky that you are friends with him and that he agreed to this. In fact I'm surprised, given what you said about missing me, that you haven't used your friendship with him before now to get me assigned to a base back on Earth so that you could see me more," Alexis tells him with slight shake of her head in disbelief.

"Oh, don't think that hasn't crossed my mind more than a few times, especially when I hear of an Alliance ship being involved in some battle or skirmish. No, you have your grandmother to thank for me not pulling every string I have to have you safely sitting behind some desk back on Earth. A couple of times she's caught me just as I was about to call Bob to do just that and she told me that you would not thank me for interfering with your career no more than I would if the situations were reversed. It was one of the few times when she made some sense," Castle admits ruefully.

"I knew I could count on Grams and don't go putting down her advice. She's given me some of the best advice and I know she does for you too," his daughter admonishes him with a waggle of a finger.

"Yes, you're right, of course," he admits again as he moves to place the laptop on the desk.

"You said to be near me was one big reason but I get the impression that there is at least one other reason why you talked your way on board. So what is it, dad?" Alexis pushes and again Castle wishes she couldn't read him as well as she can.

He lets out a sigh as he says, "Well, I am the only one that has seen these aliens that are attacking the colonies so Alliance Command also thought it would be a good idea for me to come along to help identify them," he tells her hoping that will satisfy her and that she won't pursue it any further.

Unfortunately for him she's not buying it as she continues with her questioning, "While that may be true I still think there is something else. So spill it?"

"Well, maybe I find Commander Beckett somewhat fascinating and would like to spend more time with her, as a muse…and perhaps more," he admits that last bit with a wince anticipating the explosion it will cause.

He is not disappointed as Alexis exclaims loudly, "DAAAD! What are you thinking? Convincing Uncle Bob and Alliance Command to let you shadow her just so that you can sleep with her. Oh, that's not creepy at all. Not to mention that we are on a real mission here where real people's lives are at risk and you use that to try and get in the pants of my superior officer. Great, just when I thought I was getting along with her and you have to come along and ruin it."

"Alexis, it's not like that. I mean it when I say that I find Beckett fascinating. After just being in her presence for a few days I have a whole new set of characters and a multitude of interesting plot lines in my head just screaming to be let out. She truly does inspire me. While I won't deny that I find her very attractive and would not say no to a more intimate relationship with her I really do see her as my muse. As someone that has helped me break the worst writer's block of my career. I'm not going to let that go. I've got to stay with her to learn as much as I can. As for the mission. Yes, lives are in danger but I think I can help track these aliens down and by doing that help you and your crew save lives," he tells her as sincerely as he can.

There is a long pause as Alexis searches his face for any hint that he is not being honest with her. Eventually she shakes her head in disbelief but acceptance as she says, "Ok, I believe you, dad, but please remember that I work with these people and will continue to work with them after your little shadowing project is over so please try not to embarrass me too much."

Castle puts on his best mock affront as he responds, "Who me? Embarrass you. Surely not?"

That gets a small laugh and another eye roll from his daughter as she shoots back, "Of course not. I'm forgetting who I'm speaking to. The man that is the height of appropriateness and subtlety."

"That's right, young lady, and don't you forget it," he shoots back playfully. Boy has he missed this. The happy, teasing, back and forth with his only daughter.

A loud rapping on the metal door to his quarters is then heard and looking questioningly at Alexis he calls out, "Come in!"

The metal door slides open and Beckett, dressed like his daughter in her blue and grey working uniform, steps into the cabin but stops short at the sight of the father and daughter together. With a slight deer in the headlights look in her eyes Beckett stammers out, "Oh..Uh…Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. I'll just wanted to have a word with you, Castle, but it can wait. I'll come back later."

Beckett takes a half step backwards but is stopped by Alexis who hops down from the crate she is sitting on and says to her, "No stay, Commander. I was just about to go anyway. I'm on duty in fifteen minutes." She then turns to Castle and says pointedly, "Remember what I said, Dad."

Castle gives her a solemn nod as he replies, "Yes, pumpkin. I'll see you in the mess for dinner later. Love you."

That gets another small smile from Alexis as she returns with, "Love you too, Dad. See you later."

With that Alexis leaves the room, saying a respectful, "Commander," to Beckett as she passes her and both he and Beckett watch her go until the door to his quarters slide shut.

There is a long pause as Beckett continues to look at the door that Alexis just disappeared through so Castle asks her, "You wanted to talk to me about something, Beckett?"

The woman turns from her contemplation of the door to face him and he sees her take a deep breath before asking him bluntly, "Why are you here, Castle?"

Gee, it seems like everyone wants to know that, thinks Castle, as he responds, "As I told Roy and Alliance Command, I am here to do research for a new book and to help you find the aliens that are attacking these colonies."

"And there is no other reason you are doing this? No intentions you have that have to do with anyone else on this ship?" she asks him and he knows that by anyone else on the ship she means her.

"What's the matter, Beckett? Can't stand the attention?" he asks her with a little heat letting her know the type of attention he'd like to give her.

That elicits a frustrated huff from the woman and Castle can't believe how much fun it is playing with her like this. He's never had a relationship like this before and he finds it thrilling.

"I get more than enough attention, thank you very much, Castle. I do not need some self-entitled writer following me around to flatter me. And as far as our mission goes do you honestly think that you, a man that probably hasn't set foot off Earth except for the odd book tour for years, is capable of keeping up with me and my squad and actually contribute to our mission. I think not," she counters a little hurtfully for Castle.

"I think you'll find I'm full of surprises, Beckett. Don't worry about me. I'll be able to keep up with you," he responds.

Beckett gives him a long hard look before saying, "OK, prove it. 1600hrs meet me at the firing range in the gym and show me what you can do because there is no way I'm going to let some civilian put my squad at risk unless I know what they are capable off. No matter who their friends are."

Castle gives her his winningest smile as he tells her, "It's a date, Beckett."

* * *

 _A/N: Just had to add a version of that scene from the pilot in this story. More action next chapter. Thanks again for those reading this._


	7. Chapter 7

_Disclaimer: Neither Castle nor Mass Effect are mine._

* * *

 _SSV New York – In Transit, Terminus Systems – 1600hrs Ship's Gym_

Beckett looks up from finishing her check of her Mark Ten Stiletto pistol at the sound of four sets of footsteps entering the small firing range at one end of the gym. What she sees is Castle entering with that oft seen smug look on his face being closely followed by Esposito, Ryan and Lanie.

She is surprised and a little put out at the sight of the group because she was expecting the writer but not the other three. As she didn't tell them about this she can only surmise that Castle told them and it just adds to her annoyance with the man that he decided to make this a public spectacle. Then again, she thinks, if the man wants to be humiliated in front of witnesses it's no skin off her nose.

That's not going to stop her from objecting, however, as she says sarcastically, "What's the matter, Castle, decided you needed witnesses in case I 'accidently' shoot you in the ass so that you have to get shipped home?"

Castle flashes her a winning smile as he responds, "I just happened to mention in passing to Alexis about our little session here. Apparently she mentioned it to Dr Parish, who mentioned it to Major Esposito, who mentioned it to Lieutenant Ryan and the three of them decided to come along to watch. I assure you, their presence has nothing to do with me."

"He's right, Commander, Ryan and I just wanted to see for ourselves what writer-boy here has got seeing as he's going to be groundside with us in the immediate future," Esposito tells her.

"And Lanie? What are you doing here?" she asks of her friend.

"I'm here to cheer you on, girlfriend. That and I'm here to offer my medical expertise if you do decide to shoot Castle," responds her friend impishly.

Beckett rolls her eyes. Great, she thinks, this is supposed to be a serious evaluation of Castle's abilities, or lack thereof, but now it's become the latest form of shipboard entertainment. Then again if Castle is happy to have others watching as she shows him how unprepared for the field he his then all the better. She may be able to turn this to her advantage. If enough people see that Castle is in no way ready for combat then maybe she can convince the Captain that Castle is a danger to himself and others if he follows her into the field.

With this thought in mind she shrugs her shoulders and nonchalantly says, "OK, whatever." She then indicates with her head to the firing range bay next to hers, "Castle, you'll find the same mark and model pistol as mine there all ready for you, just like I carry in the field. Check it over make sure you're familiar with it before we begin."

Beckett pauses as the man walks eagerly over to small shelf at his lane with the pistol resting on it as Esposito, Ryan and Lanie situate themselves in a line behind their lanes. As Castle, to her eyes, gingerly picks up the weapon she has to ask, "Have you ever fired a gun before?"

Castle is turning the pistol over in his hands and again to her eyes is not very expertly looking it over as he replies eagerly, "Oh, I've shot my share of holes in paper targets, I assure you Beckett."

Beckett gives a disbelieving, "Humph!" at that and Esposito chimes in from where he is standing, "We ain't shooting at paper targets when we hit the dirt, Castle. When we shoot it's usually at living beings that are shooting right back at us so having spent some time on some fancy shooting range on Earth is not going to cut it here."

"Oh, I know that, Esposito, but isn't that what we are going to be doing here anyway?" Castle asks him, looking between Esposito and Beckett curiously.

A small chuckle comes from Beckett, Esposito and Ryan as Laine shakes her head at Castle's naivety. The writer looks with confusion at the amused reaction of those around him and asks them, "Uh, what am I missing here?"

Beckett decides to put the man out of his misery, "Castle, this is an Alliance warship. We don't have your standard static firing range here and we do not use paper targets. This is an active, holographic range. You don't just stand in your lane blasting away at a stationery target. No, what we do is a lot more involved. Here, stand back and let me show you."

With that she gently presses on his admittedly broad chest to move him aside as she moves to her lane. She picks up her pistol from the shelf, raises the shelf to one side and steps past in onto the range. With the shelf back down in place behind her she takes a deep breath and tunes out everyone and everything around her and concentrates on the black space in front of her.

She then grips her pistol in two hands and assumes a side on, slightly knees bent posture as she says to the room, "Start program! Level 12!"

Immediately the dark space in front of her comes alive with moving, glowing, colourful, vaguely humanoid shapes. She snaps her weapon up to track the nearest, firing three quick shots while at the same time moving in a crouching half run towards the holographic cover of a long rectangular block that has materialised a couple of feet in front and to her right. Before she has even reached the cover her three shots impact neatly at the centre of the nearest holographic target and with a loud two tone buzz, sounding her success, the shape dissolves.

She risks a quick look over the top of her cover and ducks back down just in time as the five remaining targets shoot their low yield electrical charges at her to impact harmlessly on the cover. Having noted the direction the pair of nearest targets are heading she scoots over to one edge of the cover swiftly leans around the end of the cover and looses off six precisely aimed shots. It is as if the targets are deliberately running at her fire because there is a double sounding of the tone indicating her success as the two targets dissolve.

At that there is a flurry of electrical charges hitting her cover and it eventually disappears, leaving her exposed, so she makes a combat roll and electrical charges start hitting the floor just where she was moments ago. She comes out of her roll firing and there is another buzz indicating a dissolving target. With two targets left Beckett is moving quickly, now holding her pistol up one handed and firing as she goes.

She dodges left and right, forward and back as charges whip past her rapidly, filling the air with ozone. One more target dissolves to her fire and with one left Beckett stops suddenly in her tracks, avoiding a charge that she would have walked right into otherwise, takes very deliberate aim down the barrel of her gun, with both hands now, at the similarly dodging target a few feet away and fires.

Three shots later and she is rewarded to the pleasant sounding tone and even more pleasant sight of the target dissolving and the raising of the lights in the range to reveal a small area with black painted walls covered with a yellow grid pattern. With a huff to remove a stray strand of hair that has fallen in front of her eyes she turns to the back of the range where the four others just watched her complete the level.

As she walks up to the shelf/gate and walks thought it Ryan calls out, "5.3 seconds and no penalties, Commander. Right on average time for you."

"Which is about two seconds better than anyone else on the ship I think you'll find, Ryan," chirps up Laine with pride at her friend.

Beckett turns to Castle and she sees him standing there with a slightly open mouth and wide eyes indicating his surprise and perhaps a little awe as he says with a tinge of nerves, "Uh, they were shooting at you."

"Don't worry, Castle," Esposito tells him smugly. "It's just a small electrical charge. If we were wearing armour we wouldn't even feel it. As it is if it hits you without armour it won't kill you it'll just sting like a sonofabitch."

"If you like, Castle, we can start you on level 1, what we call the 'kiddies' level. There's only one target and it hardly shoots back at all so I'm sure you'll be able to handle it," Beckett challenges, confident now with the apprehension that Castle is showing that the man will see the error of his ways and decide to give up this idea of shadowing her in the field.

To his credit Castle straightens his shoulders and looks her in the eye as he says, "No, I'll do the same level as you, Beckett, but if I successfully complete it, without getting hit, you've got to promise me something."

Sensing a trap but at the same time certain that an amateur like Castle won't be able complete level 12 without getting hit she responds, "Promise what?"

"That you'll stop objecting to the Captain or anyone else about my following you and that when we do go into the field I pair with you and you don't try to lug me with one of these two jokers," he finishes indicating with his hand, which is still dangerously holding his pistol, towards Esposito and Ryan.

The two men duck as the weapon is waved in their direction and both let out yells of, "Hey!" and "Watch it!" at both the disparaging from Castle and the unsafe nature of the gesture.

Beckett takes a moment to consider the request. She had, in fact, been considering doing just that, pairing Castle with Esposito when they went into the field so that she wouldn't have to put up with him. She was also going to use what connections she had of her own back in Alliance Command to try and get Castle's ride-along kept as short as possible. Not knowing what Castle is capable of she is wary of agreeing but then again she knows of no one else on the ship that can make it through level 12 without at least one zap from a target hitting them so what can be the harm?

"Oookay," Beckett reluctantly agrees but has some conditions of her own. "If you can complete level 12 without one hit on you I'll agree to stop protesting and for you to pair with me on the next planet-side mission. But if so much as one charge touches you, Castle, then you lose and you have to promise me that, if you are told to stay on the ship you will stay on the ship and that you will do everything that I tell you, when I tell you."

This time Castle takes a moment to consider Beckett's conditions before nodding once firmly and saying, "I agree."

Castle then holds out his hand for Beckett to shake obviously forgetting that he is holding the pistol again as now it is pointing right at her. She rolls her eyes at him as he quickly realises his mistake and removes the gun from his hand with his other with an embarrassed, "Sorry."

As she shakes his now gun free hand Beckett thinks that this is going to be so easy maybe she should have gotten him to promise to stop following her all together. Then again observing how nervous and uncertain he is now looking at the weapon in his hands she decides to take pity on him and steps up to him indicating to points on the weapon.

"Look, the safety is here, the auto aim in on and you're loaded with practice rounds so if you shoot anything you're not supposed to you won't do any damage. Just hold it in two hands and take slow careful shots and you'll be fine," she tells him calmly, the instructor coming out in her for a moment.

"Uh, thanks, Beckett," he tells her gratefully and she watches him as he takes a deep breath, steps past her and up to and past the shelf that is the gate to the range in his lane.

"And don't shoot yourself in the foot, Castle," comes the gleeful taunt from Esposito at the sight of the man's nervousness. He adds to the attempted psych out by making a very loud aside to Lanie, "Make sure you've got plenty of the electrical burn salve handy, Lanie. Something tells me you're going to need it."

He looks tense as he steps into the dark area of the range and then glances back at Beckett and everyone else watching. At that moment Beckett sees a gleam of mischievousness in his eyes and a sinking feeling hits her gut as Castle assumes a very confident and practiced stance, griping his pistol in two hands as he calls out confidently, "Start program! Level 12!"

Now it is Beckett's turn to look on with mouth gaping open and eyes wide in surprise. She doesn't need to look to know that the others with her have matching expressions as they watch Castle smoothly move about the range and expertly take down the six targets. The almost continuous sound of the buzzer signifying the successful dissolving of the targets rings in her ears and all too soon the last tone sounds and the lights come up in the range signifying the end of the level.

It is with disbelief that Beckett watches Castle saunter casually back through the gate to join them with an extremely pleased look on his face. He calls to Ryan in a mildly curious tone, "What was my time?"

Beckett turns to look at Ryan in time to see him shake his head to clear his shock and he looks up at the holographic display above Castle's lane, "Uhh, si…six point four seconds."

"And any penalties?" he asks with continued feigned mild curiosity.

Ryan shakes his head negatively, "No, no penalties."

Beckett can't believe it. Not only has he finished the level with, next to her, one of the fastest times on the ship but he did it without being hit once. She tries to voice her disbelief as she stammers, "But…What!...How!..."

Castle gives her a cheeky smile as he walks up to her and leans in to say in mock sincerity, "You're a very good teacher."

He then gives her a wink and walks past her casually tossing his now empty pistol at a stunned Esposito who just manages to catch it. As she watches the man stroll casually from the range she thinks that she might just have underestimated the writer and she resolves not to let it happen again.

* * *

 _Logarsiri – Batarian Colony – Omega Nebula – Terminus Systems_

Varak enters Moreh's office with anger flashing in his four eyes as he virtually throws the data pad onto the slaver's desk.

"I can't believe this!" Varak says with undisguised fury.

Moreh calmly picks up the data pad that has conveniently ended up right in front of where he is seated and peruses the information displayed on the pad. The time Moreh is taking to read the information on the pad just infuriates Varak further.

"Is it true?" Varak demands.

Eventually Moreh raises his four eyes from the pad to meet Varak's and he shrugs the shoulders in his expensively cut suit, "Yes, it's true. What of it?"

"You mean to say that the same human scum that killed my brother are being allowed to roam the Terminus Systems with impunity? How can the Hegemony allow such an outrage?" he continues his fury unabated.

Again Moreh shrugs his finely dressed shoulders dismissively, "Grakek died trying to take humans as slaves and despite how we feel about those disgusting, smooth skinned creatures, the rest of the galaxy believes they were justified in defending their colony. The Hegemony isn't going to get directly involved in such an issue, you know that."

"But my blood demands revenge on the humans that killed Garkek," protested Varak.

This time Moreh nods his head in understanding, "I honour your desire to avenge your blood but from the few reports we have this _New York_ it is a powerful ship. Apparently those dammed Asari helped the humans with its construction so maker only knows what weapons and other tricks it has. Without better intelligence it would be madness to challenge them directly. You would not get the revenge you seek by sharing your brother's fate."

Varak thinks long and hard on Moreh's words. He knows the slaver is correct. From what little is known of the human vessel no ship they have would stand a chance in a straight up fight with an Alliance cruiser especially one that also has advanced Asari technology. Even the warships of the Hegemony would balk at taking on such an engagement unless they had vastly superior numbers. But he isn't thinking of a head on fight.

"I don't intend to attack them ship to ship. Just give me a single raider and twenty of your best mercenaries and I'll teach those _ritah_ humans the true cost of Batarian blood," he tells Moreh confidently and menacingly.

Moreh cocks his four-eyed head at him curiously as he asks, "What do you intend?"

"The humans are in the Terminus Systems investigating the disappearance of their colonists, yes?" Varak asks and Moreh nods in agreement.

Varak continues earnestly looking Moreh in the eyes as he stands over him, "Well, there's a small human mining outpost on Auzick, barely two hundred of the slime work there but it is only a single relay jump from the current position of the human vessel. I intend to attack the colony and wait for this _New York_ to fly in to the rescue. Auzick is just one of thousands of asteroids in the Pacmitt System so there are more than enough rocks to conceal our ship behind. I will be waiting on the outpost and with twenty mercenaries I'll easily overwhelm their landing party. They won't even be expecting us as they'll think that it is just another mysteriously empty colony. With their soldiers dead I'll take their shuttle, load it with explosives and remotely fly it right down their disgustingly long throats. As their ship becomes a fireball it will light my brother's way into the afterlife."

"And what do you think the Alliance or the Citadel Council will do to the Hegemony if they find out Batarians destroyed their latest ship?" Moreh asks pointedly.

The one thing that Batarains who operate in the Terminus Systems must not do is to let any of their illicit or murderous activities trace back to the Hegemony. The Batarian Hegemony wants to claim the Terminus Systems for themselves but lack the military power to do so directly. Therefore they rely on privateers and slavers to forward their agenda in the region on the condition that they remain deniable.

Varak waves away Moreh's concern dismissively, "Ah, they'll think that these mysterious aliens that are kidnapping their colonists are responsible. I promise you that there will be nothing to link this to us or the Hegemony."

Varak watches as Moreh mulls over his argument and for a moment he thinks the slaver is going to deny his request and he is not prepared to accept such an outcome. He has been one of the best at capturing slaves for Moreh and so has brought the slaver great profit. In his mind Moreh owes him and owes his brother. It was on a mission to capture slaves for the being seated in front of him that Garkek was killed on after all.

Therefore it is with dual feelings of relief and justification that he sees Moreh slowly nod his head in acceptance as he says, "Very well, Varak. You can have the ship and the mercs to honour your brother."

Varak gives the slaver a slight bow, "Thank you, Moreh and my family thanks you."

With an almost pleased spring in his step Varak turns and heads out of Moreh's office. Just as the office door automatically slides open to let him exit he hears a final caveat from the slaver.

"Just try to bring back some of those miners from Auzick for me. There's no reason why your quest for revenge shouldn't be profitable as well."

* * *

 _A/N: A slightly different take of another favourite scene from the beginning of Castle at the start of this chapter. Looks like Castle will be proving himself in the field soon as well._

 _Thank you all for reading this story._


	8. Chapter 8

_Disclaimer: Castle and Mass Effect do not belong to me in any way. If they did then the end of ME3 would be a bit different and so would Season 8 of Castle._

 _A/N: Sorry for the extra days it took for this chapter to get out. Work got in the way. Here's an extra-long one to enjoy as compensation. That and I didn't want to stop writing this once I got going._

* * *

 _Auzick Asteroid Mining Outpost – Pacmitt System, Terminus Systems_

Castle stands behind Beckett and Esposito, with Ryan beside him as they stand at the hatch of the shuttle waiting the last few moments as Flight Ensign 'LT' Tolliver brings them into land on the asteroid. Through the visor of his armour's helmet he glances around at the rest of the squad as they tensely wait of the shuttle to land and the hatch to open.

As he turns his head towards Ryan he notices the Lieutenant looking him up and down before quickly facing front again when he sees Castle looking in his direction. An amused grin appears on Castle's lips behind his face plate at the man's obvious curiosity.

After giving Beckett, Esposito, Ryan and Lanie his little surprise show in the ships' firing range he was more than pleased to keep the surprises coming, particularly for the three squad mates that are currently standing around him. It had continued when Beckett had the next day, after, grudgingly admitting that he was 'OK' with a gun had decided to test his hand to hand abilities. For a moment a thrill of anticipation and something baser had shot through his body at the possibility of wrestling with a sweaty Beckett on the gym floor. Alas that thrill was short lived as, with an evil looking glint in her eye, she'd told him that it would be Esposito, an expert of at least three forms of hand to hand combat, that would be sparing with him.

He freely admits that he was a bit worried when he'd met the Major in the middle of the mat later that day with Beckett, Ryan, Lanie, and, this time, Alexis watching on. His darling daughter had expressed her own concern at what the muscular Marine would do to him during their bout and he had tried to allay her fears. He'd told her, confidentially, that as part of research for the Storm books he studied numerous martial arts disciplines both human and alien and had become proficient in several.

It was only a small omission about the true nature of his 'research', something he normally never would do with his daughter, but to this day she still does not know of his time 'shadowing' and working with the agents of the ACI. While he did learn his hand to hand skills during his time with Alliance Intelligence that was when he was doing research for Derrick so technically he didn't lie to Alexis about it. He just left out some of the more pertinent details that's all.

So he was confident that he would not be totally embarrassed during his bout with Esposito however his own worries at the time stemmed from that fact that he was just a bit rusty. Before Corlinus 4 it had been years since he'd had to use what he'd learned and he freely admits that his just hit thirty-nine year old frame isn't in the same condition it was when he shadowed Agent Grey and Sophia.

He well remembers observing with envy the toned muscular arms Esposito had displayed through his black tank top as they stood facing each other across the mat. While Castle is a bug guy and has always taken pride in the muscles in his arms, shoulders and chest he freely admits that he is nowhere near as in shape as the Major. He did have some other tricks he could use if things got too dire but he wanted to hold those in reserve for when he really needs them.

The bout had begun after a word from Beckett and he had spent the next half an hour being hit, grappled with and thrown about the mat by the brown skinned Major. He'd generally been able to hold his own however, even managing to put the grim Esposito on his butt a couple of times thanks to a couple of moves that Sophia taught him oh so long ago. Though the number of times Esposito seemed to do the same to him greatly outnumbered the times he managed to return the favour. Therefore he was dripping with sweat, breathing heavily and more than a bit sore in several places when Beckett had eventually called time on their bout.

As he'd accepted the unexpected hand from Esposito to help him up from the floor where the man had just deposited him he'd turned to their audience fully expecting to be ridiculed for his efforts. He'd quickly hidden his apprehension, however when he'd seen the looks of surprise on those arrayed around the mat. He even dared to hope that he detected just a tinge of respect in the look that Beckett had been given him as he'd trudged from the mat to greedily gulp down the bottle of water and electrolytes held out to him by Alexis.

Then Beckett had said, "Well, I suppose you aren't totally useless." And with that high praise still ringing in his ears she'd strode from the gym with Laine and the two men on her heels. It was only after the doors of the gym had slid shut behind the departing officers that he'd finally slumped onto one of the bench seats along the wall of the gym and moaned loudly from the pain from his abused muscles.

Alexis had looked down at him as he'd laid on his back, his arms hanging down to brush the deck and the look she'd given him had been half in sympathy and half to say 'I told you so'. After a few minutes that did in no way stretch to half an hour, he managed to catch his breath, rise from the bench and, with the assistance of his daughter, and make his way to his quarters.

Fortunately for him the younger of the two Asari engineers aboard, a charming 'maiden' of the species by the name of Lattia M'Isak, is a fan of his books and so it hardly took any of his charm at all to have a small shower cubicle installed into one corner of his quarters. A fact that he knows a certain chestnut haired Commander finds just a bit galling seeing as even she has to make do with the communal showers that the rest of the crew use.

Therefore, after Alexis had left him in his quarters, it was with a sigh of bliss that he'd let the hot water of the shower massage the aching muscles of his body. He'd slept well that evening and the next morning, at breakfast, he'd detected a distinct thawing of the squad's attitude towards him. As he'd shared the surprisingly good scrambled eggs, bacon and hash with Alexis in the mess they'd been joined by Esposito and Ryan. The two men had started ragging on him on how Esposito kicked his ass the day before but he could tell that the teasing was meant in a good natured way and that it was a sign that the pair of marines were actually starting to see him as something other than a useless civilian that was going to hold them back.

Then surprises of surprises happened and Beckett joined them at their table as well. She'd teased him just like Espo and Ryan did about his efforts in the gym, stating her surprise at seeing him up and around after such a pummelling but the light in her eyes as she said it told him she was just having fun, just like the boys. They had then spent a very aggregable time, while wolfing down their food, engaging in easy banter and playful teasing. All the while he tried to give everyone around the table his equal attention and not make it obvious that he was really paying the most attention to Beckett.

It was because of the attention he was paying to the beautiful Commander, sitting at the end of the table, that he'd seen the slight cloud come over Beckett's eyes. It happened when Ryan started going on about his mother would have done better on the mat against Esposito than Castle did which then sparked a series of 'Your Momma' jokes from the Lieutenant and the Major. Castle had definitely seen pain in her eyes and it was not the first time he'd noticed it either. There was some pain, some loss or trauma from her past that Beckett keeps well-hidden but, he suspects, is a source of motivation for a lot of what she does.

It is another layer of her character that has intrigued him. He wants to know her pain. Know what drives her. Hopefully by knowing these things he can understand her better and get her to trust him more. There are depths to Beckett that he thinks he could spend a lifetime exploring and he is starting to think that there could be worse ways to pass his time. Also, if he knew what distressed her so maybe he could help her with it and have her give him one of those dazzling smiles that he's seen oh too infrequently and definitely yet to be directed towards him.

Then again he hasn't been completely accepted yet. Having received a garbled call from a Turian freighter that they'd found the human mining outpost on Auzick empty of all personnel, just like the other recently attacked colonies in the Terminus Systems, they'd headed here. After an orbital scan of the asteroid turned up nothing Roy had ordered Beckett and her squad to go down and check it out and Roy had made the point of adding that all the squad included him, Castle. Beckett had opened her mouth and Castle was sure she was going to object about him accompanying her, despite the bet they made in the firing range but then, probably because of the bet, she'd shut her mouth again. But the fact that she was going to object told him that he still had to prove himself to the gorgeous and tough Commander.

So it was then with some mischievous glee soon after that he'd registered the looks of surprise and a little envy when he'd turned up in the hanger deck to meet up with the squad for the shuttle ride down to the outpost. The reaction, he knew, was from the armour he is currently wearing and the weapon strapped to that armour.

Two of the most important things that he'd had shipped to him on the _New York_ were his mark ten Predator model medium armour and M-12 Locust sub-machine gun. The armour, made by Armax Arsenal, supplier to elite Turian military units, is very rare and very expensive. With a few helpful additions, supplied by Alexis, like an enhanced shield battery and special ablative plates, this deep blue coloured armour with gold trim offers ten times the protection of the standard issue armour that he can see Esposito and Ryan wearing all the while still allowing ease of movement.

Then there is the Locust. Again like the armour, the Locust, while developed by the human arms manufacturer, Kassa Fabrications, for the Alliance has yet to reach mass production and the few examples of the gun that are available are prohibitively expensive to come by. The price isn't helped by the infamous reputation that the gun earned when the very first prototype was stolen and used in the successful assassinations of two presidents of two separate independent colonies.

Versions of the submachine gun would be sought after for that reason alone but it also is a damn good weapon. While it doesn't quite have the rate of fire or it's individual rounds cause the same amount of damage of a lot of other weapons of the same type it more than makes up for it by having a range and accuracy better than most assault rifles let alone other submachine guns. The one currently clipped to his hip took a lot of time, credits and calling in of favours before it came into his possession but he's more than glad he's got it, especially now.

Again his ingenious daughter helped him out by supplying her own specially designed mods for the gun. She added an extended clip to carry even more rounds before he has to reload and an even more advanced heat sink so that the gun wouldn't overheat easily if he uses it on full auto for too long. With these helpful additions, along with the mere sight of the gun itself, he'd seen a look of envy cross the hardened Esposito's face as the major had looked him over as they'd done their final equipment check in the shuttle on the way down here.

Even Beckett, when she'd first seen him standing on the hanger deck in his very expensive but very useful armour and carrying such a formidable weapon, had asked where he got it all from. He, of course, just waved her question away with a flippant, "I know a guy," and didn't elaborate further. He wasn't lying he just couldn't tell her that the "guy" in question was a certain deceptively mild mannered looking ACI agent.

Not that Beckett can talk because Castle is sure that the black with red accents, customised, mark ten Colossus model heavy armour she is wearing and the heavily modified M-15 Vindicator assault rifle currently clipped to her back is not standard Alliance issue. He'd love to know who Beckett knows to be equipped so. Then again, he supposes, being the second most well-known soldier in the Alliance after Sheppard is sure to have some perks.

Castle is jolted from his contemplation by the movement of the shuttle's deck beneath his feet signifying that they have landed. Around him, Beckett, Esposito and Ryan all unclip their various weapons from the hard points on their armour and ready them. Castle quickly follows suit, unclipping the Locust, slipping off the safety and clicking through the selector button on its side until armour piercing rounds is selected.

Through the speakers in his helmet he hears Beckett's brusque, business like tone say, "Esposito, Ryan, go right and find cover. Castle you're with me. Keep low and follow me left to the nearest cover. Once we are sure the landing site is secure we will move into the outpost as pairs, leapfrogging as we go. One pair covers the other as it moves forward. Our objective is the mining operations centre we saw on the schematic back on the ship. If we find any bodies along the way we'll stop long enough for Ryan to run a preliminary scan and to tag their location for latter retrieval. If we find survivors we'll triage them with Medi-Gel and then get them back to the shuttle. If we encounter hostiles we will engage them but if it looks like there's a chance we'll get cut off from the shuttle we are to fall back until Bravo squad can land to back us up."

"Yes, Commander," & "Yes, ma'am," comes from Esposito and Ryan and Castle adds his own acknowledgment with an only slightly nervous sounding, "Yes, Beckett." Castle is sure that most of what Beckett said was for his benefit because he's sure that Esposito and Ryan already know to do what the Commander just told them.

This time over his helmet speakers comes the surprisingly smooth sounding voice of their shuttle pilot, LT, "Scanners show the immediate area clear, Commander. Opening the hatch in, Three….Two….One!"

The shuttle hatch hisses and clunks open, moving up and to the side and the moment there is space enough to move Beckett and Esposito do just that, rushing onto the landing platform of the outpost, weapons up and with Castle and Ryan close behind them. They split off into pairs and Castle is both watching the back of Beckett's armoured figure to follow where she goes and looking around the landing platform for possible threats as they move in a crouching run across the metal deck.

Very soon they finish their brief run at a stack of crates, plainly waiting to be shipped and loaded with the raw platinum ore that is the product of this outpost. With their backs against the crates he sees Beckett looking over towards a wheeled loader at the other side of the platform where Esposito and Ryan have similarly taken cover and she gets a nod from Esposito that all is good at their end.

Castle then takes a moment for a long look around the platform. He tries not to be distracted by the chilling sight above him of the blackness of space, interspersed with the pinpricks of light from stars and of the numerous uneven shaped, tumbling asteroids filling the void above them. If it wasn't for the faint shimmering he could see from the kinetic barrier that covers this platform in a dome, keeping the atmosphere in and any small wayward asteroids out he'd be wondering why he and the rest of the squad aren't tumbling in space just like the asteroids.

The landing platform is just a metal deck built onto the surface of the Auzick asteroid with a ramp leading to the mouth of an artificially cut cave that leads to the rest of the underground outpost. The barrier above them is designed so that ships can pass through it to land on the platform but still maintain the atmosphere and keep out any unwanted debris. It's not perfect which is why those that work on the platform still wear environmental suits and why there is a large, thick metal door across the entrance of the cave that he can see ahead.

Using a hand signal Beckett indicates for her team to move toward the same door and in the same crouching run as before, rifles up, scanning the surrounding area over their sights as they go they do just that. Castle mimics the Marines around him, holding up his Locust with one arm. Looking down the holo-sight on top of the gun and moving it around to look from cover to possible cover to make sure that there aren't any threats. The friend or foe software in his gun and armour's targeting system shows him no targets in the nil returns he gets on the display on the inside of his helmet's visor.

Through the audio pickups in his helmet he hears their booted feet clang across the metal deck as they make their way, quickly over to the door leading to the rest of the outpost. Together the four of them make it to the door. He and Beckett stop when their backs hit the rock wall to the left of the door and he is panting into his helmet after their brief run despite the assistance provided by the servos in his armour. Ryan stops with his back against the wall to the right of the door while Esposito has taken position behind a conveniently placed crate, a few meters short and in front of the door, covering it with his raised rifle.

At a nod from Beckett, Ryan activates his Omni-tool, a number of orange glowing holographic plates and readouts that envelop his left forearm and which ends in a hollow, moving disc over his left hand. He runs the tool over the nearby door control for what seems to be an agonising amount of time before a loud, deep repeated tone comes from the door, followed by several red flashing indicator lights around its edge signalling the Engineer's success. The beeping tone is interrupted by a loud, hydraulic hiss and metallic grinding and groaning as the large door starts slowly sliding open, split down the middle and the two halves sliding into the rock wall.

From his position next to Beckett he watches as Esposito moves his rifle back and forth as the gap in the door widens. With the door still only half way open and still looking down the sights of his rifle, Esposito holds up an armoured hand and signals with two quick chops for them to proceed inside. Castle again follows close behind Beckett as she and Ryan move into the space revealed by the still opening door, their weapons raised and searching for danger.

Inside Castle finds them in a medium sized ante chamber that includes a second large door that is fully open but would form an air lock with the outer door if it was closed. Inside this chamber are more sacked crates of ore, some mining equipment and a couple of deactivated hover sleds, which he surmises are used to move the crates from the mine to here.

Ryan and Beckett move to the other end of the chamber to the open entry of a tunnel that leads deeper into the outpost and again Castle sticks close behind Beckett as they move. Once they reach the tunnel, flanking the entrance again with Beckett and Castle on one side and Ryan on the other they keep their weapons up and scanning the immediate vicinity for anyone or anything hiding behind the ample cover in the room. With their weapons still searching for threats, Castle's included, Esposito joins them in the chamber with a quick, smooth, measured and knees bent stride, weapon likewise up and searching for targets. Once he has taken cover behind a nearby, dirty, yellow painted laser mining drill Castle looks over to Ryan at the other side of the door to see that he has activated his Omni-tool again and is scanning the surrounding area with a wave of his arm.

Eventually he lowers his arm, deactivates the Omni-tool and gives a negative shake of his head towards Beckett. It is only then, for the first time since they set foot on the landing platform that he hears a sound from one of the squad as Beckett's clear, calm sounding voice comes over his helmet's earphones, "Alpha leader to shuttle. LZ secure. Am proceeding to objective. Remain on station and maintain LZ security until all clear. The minerals in the asteroid will block our comms from here on out. If we do not check in within three zero minutes you are to return to the ship and report. Copy?"

"Copy, Alpha leader," comes the slightly disgruntled acknowledgment from the shuttle pilot at being ordered to leave them behind if necessary.

Beckett then looks over at Ryan and says, "Ok, Alpha three, do your thing."

With that Ryan quickly clips his gun to his hip, activates his Omni-tool again, taps on one of the holographic panels with rapid fingers and then extends his glowing arm towards the entrance of the tunnel. The sensors in Castle's helmet just manage to register the small device that launches from Ryan's arm before an orange, glowing, spinning ball of holo-energy materialises around the device. The basketball sized ball of energy indicates the shield that has been thrown up around the small attack and surveillance drone that Ryan has just launched and that is hovering in front of him.

At another tap of a control on his forearm the drone moves rapidly into the tunnel and out of sight. Then in the bottom corner of Castle's visor a small split image appears, one half showing a dimly lit rocky corridor from the camera on the drone as it moves down the tunnel and the other half showing the return from the drone's sensors as it scans for signs of movement.

They give the drone a few moments to get far enough ahead of them and for it to show that the way is clear before Beckett signals with her raised rifle for them to proceed into the tunnel. He follows Beckett as she strides smoothly into the tunnel for a few meters before she stops at and crouches down next to one rocky wall with her rifle pointed down the tunnel. Castle moves to the other side of the tunnel, which is about seven meters wide and mirrors Beckett's position with his gun, likewise pointing in the direction the drone has taken. He risks a quick glance behind him in time to see Ryan and Esposito to follow them into the tunnel, Esposito pausing briefly to place a pair of somethings on the wall at either side of the entrance before following his partner into the tunnel and past the crouching Beckett and Castle.

From his research he recognises the proximity mines that the Major just placed there, covering their rear and the LZ. The moment Esposito's hand leaves the mines they project a small holo-field that camouflages them to the rock wall. Now if anyone not wearing a transponder emitting the correct signal, like the ones in their armour, approaches the tunnel entrance they are going to get a nasty and explosive surprise.

Esposito and Ryan have moved a few meters further down the tunnel before taking similar crouching positions on either side just like Beckett and Castle. Beckett then does a quick scan with her raised rifle behind them to 'check their six' before indicating with her helmeted head towards Castle for them to proceed. This they do, with Castle only a couple of steps behind Beckett as they move past the covering Esposito and Ryan until they stop and crouch again a few more meters down the tunnel at its first bend.

They continue like this for the next ten minutes, leapfrogging their way down the narrowing tunnel, all the while keeping half an eye on the images on their visors from the drone ahead of them. When they come to the first junction in the tunnel Esposito places some more mines and Ryan adds a defensive drone for good measure at the entrance to the branch that the schematics they studied back on the ship tells them leads to the accommodation areas of the outpost. With their backs so guarded they proceed down the branch that leads to the mine itself and its operations centre.

They are still a fifty meters from their objective when the image from the camera of the drone shows it leaving the tunnel and entering a larger rocky cavern that has stalactites hanging from the roof. In the chamber are several demountable pods, about the size of shipping containers, more stacked crates of ore, mining equipment and other detritus of a busy mine. At one end of the chamber there is the opening to another tunnel that Castle thinks must the entrance to the mine itself.

The image from the drone moves closer to the mine entrance while the return from its sensors continue to show no movement. Then, as it appears to be half way across the chamber, there is a flickering of the image from the camera and the return from the sensors drops out altogether. The image from the camera then becomes a blur and Castle can only think that the drone is spinning around like a top for them to be seeing such a thing before then finally even that blurry sight drops from their visors only to be replaced by the red flashing words 'Signal Lost'.

At that moment Beckett raises a closed fist and as she and Castle were in the process of advancing down the corridor when they lost the signal from the drone, they both stop where they are and assume a crouching position on either side of the tunnel. Beckett scans down the corridor with her rifle in the direction of their now disappeared drone and Castle does the same. The targeting sensors in his gun can detect nothing however and he turns his head to look at the Commander.

In his helmet he hears from her, "What happened, Alpha three?"

"Unclear, Alpha Leader. I'll play back the last moments in slow motion," responds Ryan and Castle risks a look back again to see the Engineer, only a few meters behind him, manipulate the controls on his Omni-tool. While his is doing that, Esposito has turned and is pointing his rifle back down the way they came, covering their rear.

The recorded image from the camera and sensors of the drone reappears in the corner of his visor but the images from both the camera and sensors are now advancing a frame at a time. In this jerky fashion they watch as the image of the drone making its way towards the entrance of the tunnel replayed. Then in the last frame before the sensors drop out and the first flicker in the camera feed happens a single red dot appears in the sensor return indicating movement. The next few frames from the camera are of the drone moving erratically and again, in the last frame before the image becomes a blur they see a distinct electrical discharge around the edges of the image. Unfortunately, even going frame by frame, the drone is spinning too quickly to make anything out before its signal is lost however from what they did see it is plain that the drone was attacked.

Castle quickly turns his attention back down the corridor, over the sights of his Locust in the direction of their attacked drone, searching for any possible sign of danger from that direction. Over the comms he hears Esposito's terse exclamation, "Shit, someone took it out."

"Indications were that there is only one hostile but I'd bet a month's pay there's got to be more of them," raises Ryan.

"There's definitely more than enough places for them to hide in there. A perfect place for an ambush," agrees Beckett.

Deciding that it's time to get in on the conversation, Castle asks with more than a little self-interest, risking another look over at Beckett, "So what do we do?"

Her helmeted head turns to regard him as she answers, ominously, "I say we don't disappoint them."

* * *

 _Meanwhile, in the cavern ahead…_

Varak looks with anger at the image being projected in front of him from his Omni-tool at the sight of the four human soldiers stopped in the tunnel still meters short of the trap he's laid for them. They'd just come in sight of the micro-camera he placed in the tunnel when that fool Sillat decided to take out the drone. If he didn't want the noise to further alert the humans he'd shoot the mercenary in the head himself for so unnecessarily breaking cover.

Everything has gone exactly to plan until now.

They'd arrived at the outpost and captured the unprepared miners quickly and after only a token resistance by the small security force that was part of the operation. The bodies of the human guards were quickly disposed of and the signs of the brief battle with them had been cleaned or covered over while the surviving miners were led to a storage room under guard. Around the store room he'd set up the sensor dampeners, smaller versions of which are in his and the rest of his mercenaries armour, so that the human's scanners would not detect them.

Then he'd had their ship send the call masquerading as a Turian freighter to lure the Alliance cruiser here and their soldiers into his trap. The _New York_ had dully arrived, failed to detect their ship powered down as it rests on a nearby asteroid and send their shuttle and soldiers to investigate just like he knew they would. They were just about to walk right into the sights of his rifle when Sillat's impatience stopped them where they are now.

He admits he feels some relief as he sees one of the soldiers indicate with their helmeted head and then the four of them rise and start moving forward again. Over his comms he hears the smug voice of Sillat say, "See, the stupid humans must think that their drone malfunctioned. No harm done."

Varak's anger returns as he hisses down the comms at the Batarian mercenary, "I said total comms silence. One more mistake like that, Sillat, and I'll save the humans the trouble and kill you myself."

Then to his consternation the feed from his camera goes black just as the humans are passing it. He quickly switches to another camera a bit further down the tunnel but the feed from that is blank as well. Varak tries the final camera, at the entrance of the tunnel to this chamber, only to get no signal from it either. This immediately has him hissing down his comms at the hidden mercenaries around him, "Get ready. They know something's wrong."

Before he shuts down his Omni-tool he sends out the quick, pre-prepared comms burst to the eight mercenaries he'd hidden in the accommodation area of the outpost. As he now picks up his assault rifle and peers down its sight from his position, lying prone on the roof on one of the pods of the mine's operations centre, he hopes that those mercs can follow orders better than Sillat can.

When the mercs emerge from the tunnel leading from the accommodation area three are to proceed to the landing platform and secure the human shuttle. They've got jamming equipment with them so the human pilot won't be able to call his ship before the mercs kill him. The remaining five are then to proceed towards this chamber, coming up behind the humans, cutting off their escape and catching them in a deadly flanking cross fire. That is if any of them survive the attack from the ten mercenaries and himself that are hidden about this cavern.

Down the sight of his rifle he sees something move in the grey hole that is the entrance to the tunnel and then the annoying and unnecessary comment from Sillat over the comms of, "I see something."

* * *

Castle's heart rate as definitely increased as he and the rest of the squad have neared the cavern and certain ambush that awaits them. Once they'd started to move forward Ryan had started more continuous scans with his Omni-tool. He'd immediately reported detecting several micro-cameras in the tunnel between them and the cavern ahead. Beckett had ordered him to eliminate them and a few more taps on the Engineer's Omni-tool and a signal went out that fried the circuits of all the cameras.

As they pause in the shadows just before the entrance to the cavern he tries to control the rapid breathing his nerves is causing. He just hopes it isn't being broadcasted to the rest of the squad. As he looks through his helmet's visor into what he can see of the cavern ahead he hears Ryan say, "Picking up chatter. It's encrypted but is definitely close by."

"Ok, Alpha three, let's see what we can see," orders Beckett.

Castle looks over at Ryan, who is crouched across the tunnel from him and again is sensors just manage to detect the launch of the drone from the man's Omni-tool. This time the device, half the size of a golf ball, does not project the large glowing shield around it but instead disappears from view as it projects a holo-camouflage field around it like Esposito's mines.

Again a feed from the drone appears in the corner of his visor and he sees an image from the drone as it quickly flies into the cavern and then rapidly ascends to the roof where it stops with a clear line of sight looking down at the entire interior of the cavern. From this position he can clearly see several armoured figures hidden at points around the cavern, orientated towards the very entrance he is crouching in.

As the drone identifies targets the display in his visor starts generating red 'foe' markers in both the small image from the drone's camera and on the HUD of his visor so that when he looks towards the cavern he can see the position of each enemy behind their cover and even through the walls of the tunnel as well.

"I count seven in the open but there could be more in the pods," says Esposito from his position closer to the tunnel entrance which he'd moved to, with Beckett on the opposite side of the entrance from the Major and Castle just behind him.

Castle watches as Beckett points at several points of the roof of the cavern as she says to Esposito, "Alpha two, set the M-77 for multiple targets. We'll lay down cover then fire on my word."

"Copy, Alpha leader," replies Esposito and the Major stows his rifle on his back and replaces it with the missile launcher that is clipped on his back beside it.

As Esposito readies the weapon Beckett asks Ryan, "Anything behind us, Alpha three?"

"Neg….," starts Ryan but at that moment there is an explosion from back down the tunnel from the direction they just came from and the Engineer studies a readout from his Omni-tool. He then continues, "Scratch that. The drone and mines we left at the tunnel leading to the accommodation area just engaged some hostiles. The mines have taken out five and the drone is currently engaging the remaining three."

"Ok, we better move before they overpower the drone and outflank us," there is a pause and Castle can see Beckett's helmeted head turned towards him as she obviously studies him.

"You ready for this, Castle?" she asks him and he can hear genuine concern in her voice.

Despite the nerves he is feeling he nods his head vigorously as he responds with only a slight quaver in his voice, "I'm ready, Beckett."

There is another moment as Beckett obviously considers his answer before she replies, "OK, keep your head down and stick close to me but not too close. We don't want to make it easy for them to get us both with a grenade. Just treat this like the firing range back on the _New York_ and you'll be fine."

Beckett then faces towards the entrance of the tunnel, raises her assault rifle and commands louder down the comms, "Covering fire on my mark…. GO! GO! GO!"

At that Beckett and Ryan move forward to the very edge of the entrance and Castel joins them, standing slightly behind and to the right of Beckett and hopefully still in the shadow of the entrance. All three of them start firing their guns on automatic at the red 'foe' markers on their visors. Just out of the corner of his visor Castle sees Esposito kneel in the centre of the entrance to the cavern with the missile launcher on his shoulder. The next moment, following the order of, "Fire, Espo," from Beckett, there are multiple sharp reports and spurts of smoke as Esposito fires the launcher.

Half a dozen small guided projectiles leap from the launcher and speed, not towards the concealed enemies, but towards the roof of the cavern. Barely a second later, they impact at the base of several of the stalactites arrayed about the roof of the cavern. The explosions from the missiles reverberate around the chamber, drowning out the chatter from the squad's and, now, hostile's automatic weapons.

There is a rending crack and whole sections of the roof of the cavern start crashing down into the cavern and atop of the concealed hostiles. Castle sees chunks of rock plummet down to crush, crates, machinery and a couple of the pods with a terrible crash and billowing clouds of dust.

The image from the drone in Castle's visor goes out as he suspects it is destroyed by a falling piece of rock. Likewise the red 'foe' markers on his visor start disappearing but he's sure that it's not because the drone was just destroyed. No, it's more likely that the number of hostiles they can detect is now down to two thanks to the rest being buried under tons of rock.

"Advance," comes the order from Beckett once the last of the roof has crashed to the ground.

The four of them move swiftly into the dust filled cavern and Castle makes sure he keeps close to Beckett as she moves towards a large boulder that moments ago was part of the roof. Spurts of dust erupt across the surface of the boulder as two armoured figures emerge from one of the few remaining undamaged pods to their right, firing assault rifles as they come.

As Castle arrives next to Beckett in the cover of the boulder he joins her in returning fire towards the two hostiles. The targeting system linked to his Locust locks onto one of the figures and a stream of armour piercing rounds tear through the shields and armour of the enemy before it can make it to cover. The figure drops to the dirt floor of the cavern and does not get back up.

The other one has met a similar fate at the hands of Beckett beside him and from the smoking, flame filled holes in the hostile's armour, as it lies sprawled in the dust, Castle can tell Beckett has her rifle set to deliver incendiary rounds.

Castle and Beckett heads both whip around as there is a small explosion and brief chatter of gunfire from the other side of the cavern and the two remaining 'foe' indicators on Castle's visor wink out. With their weapons still up and searching for targets they move past their cover and further into the cavern.

Through the now settling dust Castle can just make out the armoured figures of Esposito and Ryan and the glowing globe of a rocket drone on the other side of the cavern standing over two armoured bodies. Castle suspects that they used the rocket drone to blast the hostiles from cover before taking them out.

In pairs they then move about the cavern searching for more hostiles but come up empty. All they find are bodies in various attitudes of death or, in some cases, just pools of red blood oozing from beneath some of the fallen pieces of rock to indicate the fate of those that were waiting to ambush them.

As Ryan and Esposito clear the remaining, undamaged pods, Castle follows Beckett as she walks towards to a pod that has been crushed by a large section of the roof. They are only half way towards it however before Castle sees something that has him pushing Beckett to the ground as he almost dives on top of her, firing his submachine gun as he goes.

He cringes as he feels the impacts of several rounds on his shields and then armour as the two hostiles that have just appeared in the entrance of the cavern fire the rounds that would have hit Beckett if he had not pushed her out of the way. As he hits the ground the haphazard fire he returns towards the two enemies does manage to hit one of them in the leg, causing that one to collapse to one knee but still keep firing at him.

As more rounds strike his shields and armour the red indicator on his visor starts flashing to indicate that his shields are about to fail and his armour is in danger of being breached. Before that can happen, however, a stream of rounds starts hitting first the standing hostile and then the kneeling one as Beckett, having risen from where he pushed her out of the way, starts pouring fire onto the enemy.

Very soon both are down with smoking holes in their armour, never to rise again. There is a crash behind them and as Castle rises gingerly to his feet again he can see Ryan and Esposito burst out of the pod they were just clearing, their weapons up and searching for targets.

Beckett raises a hand to the two men as she says over the comms, "It's OK, guys, they're down. Must be the two that made it past the drone. All clear there?"

Esposito nods his armoured head and holds his large assault rifle in the crook of his elbow as he responds, "All clear, Commander."

"Ok, you two set up to cover the mine entrance just in case there are any more unwelcome guests hiding in there but be prepared to bug out at a moment's notice. After what we've done here this place might not be structurally sound anymore," Beckett instructs the two Marines and with assenting nods from them both they go over to the mine entrance.

Then Beckett turns towards Castle and her helmeted head cocks to one side as she considers him before he hears her say, "Thanks for that, Castle."

Castle waves away her thanks but before he can respond there is a loud groan from the wreckage of the nearby pod that Beckett had been heading towards before they were attacked. Together they make their way towards the source of the groan and they find a Batarian pinned beneath the giant rock that has crushed the pod.

Castle can tell he's Batarian because a falling rock has cracked open the faceplate of his helmet and the four eyed creature grimacing in pain is clearly recognisable. From the positon of his body Castle can tell that the Batarian was on top of the pod when the roof fell on top of him.

As he and Beckett approach Castle can see red blood pouring from the dying Batarian's mouth and from beneath the rock that has crushed the lower half of his body. They stop next to the Batarian and both crouch down as the creature is obviously trying to say something with his last dying breath.

Castle leans his head closer to the alien and he just manages to hear him whisper, strangely, as he dies, "I'm sorry, Garkek."

* * *

 _A/N: I've given the technology of the Mass Effect world a little tweak here in regards the drones, targeting systems and the capabilities of the missile launcher. I still think it works and is logical._

 _I hope you all are enjoying this and thanks to those that are still reading._


	9. Chapter 9

_Disclaimer: Castle and Mass Effect are not mine in any way. This is just a little alternative track that each franchise has taken in my head._

* * *

 _Sick Bay – SSV New York, in orbit, Auzick Asteroid, Terminus Systems_

"So he's not so annoying after all?" comes the question that is also a statement from Laine as she finishes putting away her medical equipment. Equipment that she'd just finished using to treat a few of the Auzick miners that had been injured during the Batarian attack on their mining outpost.

Beckett shoots an unimpressed look at her friend as she sit, legs swinging in the air, on an empty examination bed nearby watching her friend work and waiting to go for an off duty drink with her. All of the injured survivors of the attack of the mining outpost have been treated and given that none of their wounds are serious, have been released and are currently being shuttled over to one of the three freighters that have recently arrived in the system.

The freighters have been sent by the company that owns the outpost to evacuate the miners and salvage what they can of the outpost after Beckett and her squad's fight with the Batarians. Apparently the company in question is studying whether or not it is cost effective for them to continue with the operation. Otherwise the sickbay is empty except for Nurse Lee who is at the other end of the room likewise tidying up after their brief influx of patients.

After their battle with the Batarian's, Beckett, with Castle in tow, had returned to the shuttle to report back to the ship. They'd passed by the grisly remains of the Batarians that had tried to flank them from the tunnel leading to the accommodation area and which had been taken out by Esposito's mines and Ryan's drone. Then, when they were almost back at the shuttle, they'd come across two more dead Batarians. These were near the entrance leading to the landing bay and had likewise been taken out by the mines that Esposito had placed there to secure the LZ.

After reporting back to the Captain he'd immediately put the ship at battle stations and launched the half flight of F61 Trident class fighters aboard to escort another shuttle down with Bravo squad to back them up. Once the shuttle landed he'd ordered the fighters to search the surrounding asteroids for a ship that would explain the Batarians presence and which the _New York's_ sensors could obviously not see.

She had then led Bravo squad and Castle in a sweep of the outpost to find the surviving miners locked in a storage room in the accommodation area. Later she'd learned that the fighters found the Batarian ship, powered down, on the surface of a nearby asteroid. Seeing that they'd been discovered the raider had tried to power up and take off from its hiding place. Given the hostile action of those encountered on the outpost that it brought here and the fact that it refused to answer any hails, Captain Montgomery had ordered the fighters to engage. To the flight leader's credit, a Flight Major Velasquez, she and her wing man tried to just disable the ship by taking out its engines but the damage they inflicted just caused the fleeing ship to crash back into the very asteroid that had hidden it, destroying it and killing all aboard.

Laine pauses in her work to give her own pointed look back at Beckett and after a minor staring contest between them Beckett releases a frustrated huff and responds, "Ok, fine! Yes, he's not as annoying as he was when I first met him. Actually, him shadowing me in the field seems to have had the effect of actually making him shut up and listen to me."

"And from what Esposito tells me he handled himself pretty well down on the asteroid. He even saved you from a couple of Batarians that got the jump on you," Lanie says to her with a challenging tone.

Beckett rolls her eyes at that but then she registers something in what Laine just said that might allow her to get he own back on her friend for once. Because the sassy doctor always seems to have an unhealthy fascination on Beckett's private life or lack thereof and she relishes the chance to turn the tables for once. With a knowing tone Beckett shoots back with, "So, Esposito told you, huh? When was this because as far as I know Esposito didn't get a scratch down on the asteroid so he wouldn't have needed medical attention or perhaps you are giving some other form of attention?"

Lanie narrows her eyes at Beckett from across the room and waggles a challenging finger at her, "I see what you're trying to do Kate Beckett. You're trying to avoid talking about the feelings we both know you still have for Castle despite how bad your first impression of the man was. As for what is between me and Javi, let's just say that we're having some fun and leaving it at that."

"Just having fun, really?" responds Beckett crossing her arms across her chest but continues on because she is much more comfortable talking about someone else's relationship and feelings than her own. "Well, make sure you don't wear him out before a mission otherwise I'll have to consider reporting your relationship to the Captain as detrimental to unit cohesion and efficiency."

"I'll remember you said that when you finally get up the guts to jump Castle's bones and see how you are feeling after. Speaking as the doctor that had to give him the physical as part of the agreement for him to shadow you and, in no way breaking doctor patient confidentiality, that man has equipment that will give even you a work out," Lanie challenges back saucily.

"Uggh, Lanie! TMI!" protests Beckett looking away, feeling a slight flush to her cheeks at the image that Lanie's words instantly conjures into her head.

Lanie then steps closer to where Beckett is seated and when she turns back to look at her friend she can see a look of concern behind the playfully teasing glint in her eye as she says in a much more sincere tone, "Sweetie, I just want you to have some fun. From your letters you've not been in any sort of relationship since Will left you to take the XO position on the _Boston._ I know how hard you push yourself. How much responsibility you take on your shoulders that you don't have to. You need to let your hair down from time to time and I think Castle is the perfect one for you to do that with. I've already seen a change in you since he came aboard and frankly it's a good one."

Slightly shocked by Lanie's words because as far as she's concerned ever since Castle came aboard she's been like a bear with a sore head, she asks, "What do mean, Lanie? I've made it quite clear that I don't want him aboard let alone shadowing me. How does that translate into this good change you've seen?"

Lanie gives her a self-indulgent smile and tells her as if it is the most obvious thing in the world, "Kate, when you came aboard you were wound tighter than a boa constrictor abound it's next meal but ever since Castle came aboard, despite all your protests and outwards signs of displeasure with the man, you've been a bit looser and more relaxed. I've seen the way you look at him sometimes. Like the times when we've see him and Blue having meals together or just hanging out together the sight of which even makes my heart melt a little. Or the little smile you get when he brings you coffee just the way you like it at the start of your shift and don't tell me that isn't the surest way into Kate Beckett's good books. Hell, the cook had to order crates of the stuff when he heard you had been assigned aboard because he was afraid you'd drink the ship dry otherwise. Whenever I give you a check-up I expect to be drawing vanilla latte from your veins and not blood."

Again Beckett looks away from her friend as she protests, "I don't know what you are talking about, Lanie. Ok, I'll admit that he and Blue seem to have a pretty good relationship but as for bringing me coffee. Don't you find it a little creepy that he already knows how I like my coffee and is there with it at the start of my shift, day or night? I'd almost call it being a stalker rather trying to get into my good books."

Beckett looks back at Laine as her friend shakes her head ruefully, "Protest all you want but we both know that it's little things like that you appreciate rather than any big gestures. The man is observant, probably comes from being a writer, so he's bound to have picked up on your preferred coffee order. Anyway frankly, given how often you are seen around the ship with a mug in your hand, I don't think there's a single member of the crew that doesn't know by now how you like your coffee so it's not that much of a stretch for Castle to find out what it is. As for him having it there for you at the start of your shift, besides personally thinking it is sweet, again several of the crew are considering recommending him for a medal because if you don't start your shift with caffeine in your system everyone else pays the price."

Beckett growls in anger and frustration at Lanie's words but her friend just continues to smile indulgently at her before continuing with her disquieting advice, "All I'm saying, Kate, is give the man a chance. Blow off some steam with him or steam it up with him, however you want to put it but have some fun. What could be the harm?"

"The harm is, besides him being an arrogant, egotistical jackass that thinks he can work his way into my life just because he knows people, the man is writing a book with a character based on me. I do not want my private life to be published all across space for everyone to read about. Hell, my Dad could read it and Castle always puts love scenes in his books. There is no way I am being the inspiration for that," Beckett puts her case, she thinks, finally.

Lanie now gives her a sceptical look, "Do you really think he'd do that? From my talks with the man and with Blue he seems to keep his personal life and his writing very separate. I don't think that you have to worry about any 'fun' between the sheets you might have with him ending up between the pages of his book. If you are really worried about it then before you do anything with him why not ask him?"

"I'm not going to ask him because it's not going to happen. Besides he's on my squad now, even if he's technically an observer, and I don't date people I work closely with, you know that," Kate tells her and she hopes that this will put a stop to Lanie's 'advice'.

In this day and age the Systems Alliance does not have the same non-fraternisation rules that the militaries of Earth had in the past. With crews often on extended missions far from home it is acknowledged that their people are only human and are going to find companionship or love no matter how many or in spite of any rules forbidding such liaisons. The only rule is that any relationship does not interfere with the respective personnel's duties or the safety of the ship, if they are on one. The determination of whether or not this is the case is made by the relevant superior officer of the crew members involved or the ship's Captain. Because of this there is an unwritten rule that members that work closely together, members of the same squad or squadron, do not 'hook up' because team members with such split focus could endanger a mission. It is an unwritten rule that Beckett has always followed.

"Oh come on," protests Lanie this time. "It's not like he's a member of the Alliance. You said it yourself, he's an observer. Which means that there's no risk of it looking like favouritism if you get together because as his squad leader, technically, he is under your command. Also, are you saying that you, Kate Beckett, the woman that has a laser focus when in combat, wouldn't be able to keep your feelings for a man from influencing you when you are in the field? That is not the hardass N7 operator that I know and is the fear of pirates, mercenaries and other assorted enemies of the Alliance everywhere."

"Flatter me all you want but there is no way that there is going to be anything between Castle and me and that's that," Beckett says firmly chopping here hand in time with the last couple of words in emphasis.

"Mmm, hmm," responds Lanie sceptically. "You keep telling yourself that, sweetie. I'm just looking forward to telling you 'I told you so' when you finally realise what a good thing you've got staring you in the face and decide to take a chance with him."

"Not going to happen, Laine. So you're going to be waiting a long time," ripostes Beckett back at her. "Anyway, are you done here so that we can get that drink? Though if all you're going to do is spend the night dissecting my private life there's a pile of crew evaluations I'd rather be doing," she teases back at her friend.

Lanie holds up her hands in mock protest, "Ok, ok, Kate. I won't say another word about you and a certain hunky writer tonight. I'm finished here so let's go."

With that Beckett jumps down from the bed and side by side they walk from the sick bay with Lanie wishing a 'goodnight' to Nurse Lee as they pass. As they make their way down the corridor towards the port side crew lounge, on the same deck as the sick bay, Beckett can't help but go over Lanie's words.

In truth she can't deny that her feelings towards Castle have changed from when she first met him. While he has been annoying during his time aboard the ship, following her around everywhere and with some of the things that come out of his mouth being so damn inappropriate sometimes, he has also shown himself to be kind, thoughtful and brave man. Not to mention being, as Laine pointed out, a loving and doting father to their ship's pilot. From what she has observed and from her own conversations with his daughter she is starting to see that the front he puts up as the smarmy playboy is just that, a front.

She knows for a fact that she is not the only one aboard to whom he makes thoughtful gestures, like her morning coffee which started during that week they searched for the attackers of the colony on Makawi. The Chief Petty Officer that is the chief cook aboard was only telling her the other day about the extra supplies that had arrived aboard back at Sentinel base that are for all the crew to enjoy, courtesy of Castle and entirely at his expense. Then there is Petty Officer Imrie whose son was involved in a hover-car accident on Elysium. She had heard that Castle had called a doctor friend of his who works at the best hospital on Elysium to take on Imrie's son's case personally. Apparently, due to no small part thanks to the skill of Castle's doctor friend, Imrie's son is looking at nowhere near the hard recovery time he was looking at after the injuries he sustained during the accident.

While a cynical part of her says that he is only doing these things so that he can ingratiate himself with the crew and her, if she is truly honest with herself she doesn't think that is the case. No, for a man with such obvious wealth and fame Castle seems remarkably down to earth and really seems to care for those around him. The whole smartass womaniser persona that she first saw and graces the tabloid extranet shows just seems to be an act.

Plus after all she's seen here on the ship and during the fight on Auzick Castle has surprised her at how well he can actually look after himself. He's actually pretty handy in a fight. Not that she'd tell that to his face because she's sure the resultant expansion of his ego would rupture a bulkhead. Yet she can't deny that he's not the liability she thought he'd be and that he's actually shown courage, misplaced and misguided though it might be, by following her into such dangerous situations without any formal training. Though Beckett would bet that fancy gun of his that he's had some informal training along the way. Probably as part of more of his research for his books.

Despite all this and the attraction that she can't deny she feels for the man, Beckett still can't believe that such a rich and famous man like Castle, a man that can and has had any number of beautiful, undamaged and uncomplicated women on his arm and in his bed, would be interested in her. An emotionally closed off, boring, soldier like her.

Ok, she acknowledges to herself, she knows she's attractive. She has the good genes of her parents and her continuous exercise regime to thank for that and had to put up with, all though her academy years, as being known as the 'hot recruit'. However she still can't reconcile the fact that an admittedly handsome man like Castle would be truly interested in her for more than a quick roll in her bunk. Not that, despite her protests to Laine, that doesn't hold some appeal for her. It's just that at this stage of her life, if she is going to open up to someone like that, it is going to be for more than a one night stand.

Since the death of her mother and the self-inflicted sickness that overtook her father as a result, Beckett has guarded her heart. Never truly letting the few boyfriends she's had since in. But now, as she gets older, she's starting to long for the companionship and trust in an honestly loving relationship that she's been careful not to have in any of her relationships so far. As distressing as it still is to think about her mother and the relationship she had with her father before she was killed, Beckett is starting to realise that it is that same sort of relationship that her parents had that she is longing for.

Can she honestly say that she is going to have that kind of relationship with Richard Castle? She won't deny to herself that she feels some sort of connection with the man but whether it is just a desire, as Lanie puts it, to jump his bones or whether it is something deeper she can't tell yet. Then again, as Laine has suggested, maybe she should give the man a chance?

Regardless of these thoughts she isn't going to rush into anything. Hell, after spending enough time around her and seeing how damaged and complicated she is he might lose all interest in her. Then his little job shadowing her will come to an end and she will never see him again and all this soul searching will be for nothing.

As she and Lanie step up to the double doors of the lounge she resolves to put these thoughts behind her for the night and just try and relax and enjoy some down time with her friend. All thoughts of a possible relationship with a certain favourite mystery writer of hers can wait for another day.

* * *

 _A/N: So not a lot happens in this chapter because basically I'm trying to wrap up the battle on the asteroid and set up the fact that Castle and Beckett get together in this story a lot sooner than happened in the show. Also this chapter was way longer than this because there was so much more I wanted to cover and I found that as a result the chapter was getting far too long and I can't bear to cut anything I've already written here. My solution is that I've chopped it roughly in half to make two chapters. The next chapter, which continues immediately from where we leave off here, will be up in only a couple of days after I do some final editing. I hope you all continue to enjoy the story and thank you for reading._


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N: This chapter follows immediately on from where the previous chapter left off._

 _Disclaimer: I am in no way involved with the production of Castle or Mass Effect and have no ownership of either as well._

* * *

 _Port Crew Lounge aka 'McSoreley's' – SSV New York – Terminus Systems_

With thoughts still churning in her head of a certain writer, Beckett steps, with Lanie, through the opening double doors of the crew lounge, known to the crew as 'McSoreley's after the famous bar in the city of the ship's name. This space with the largest observation port in the side of the ship, that is currently giving those inside a spectacular view of the rock filled space in the Packmitt System, has become the favourite place for members of the crew to spend their down time.

There are several plush couches dotted around the room not to mention many tables and chairs where people can sit, relax and enjoy a drink. Along one wall are a row of VR chairs, a couple of which she can see are currently occupied, where a person lies back and lowers the helmet over their head so that they can enjoy a fully immersive movie or game.

At one end of the room is a green baize topped card table surrounded by some high backed chairs that is already familiar to Beckett. Another one of the things she did to bond with her squad mates was to challenge them to a few friendly games of Texas Hold'em poker. Fortunately for her and the squad the prideful Esposito took his repeated losses at her hands with good grace.

At the other end of the room is what can only be described as a bar despite the practice that says that Alliance ships are 'dry'. Officially while alcohol consumption is discouraged aboard Alliance ships it is not prohibited but Beckett is yet to serve aboard one where there isn't a place like this aboard. Like with the rule about fraternisation, ships Captains tend to allow alcohol aboard as long as it isn't consumed in excess and doesn't affect the crew's performance. Penalties are harsh if you abuse the system. Turn up for duty with alcohol in your system and it is immediate grounds for court martial. However most acknowledge that without such an opportunity to let off some steam appropriately then crew moral and performance would suffer.

It also doesn't hurt that another benefit of the bio-medical miracle that is Medi-Gel is that, besides being able to cure minor wounds and purge harmful poisons and toxins from a person's system it has a similar effect on alcohol in a person's blood stream once administered. Many a crew member, after a heavy night, can be seen visiting the sickbay for a quick jolt of Medi-Gel and clearing of their system and senses. Because they have to go to the ships' doctor of corpsman for the Medi-Gel the reason for its application is recorded and so monitored by their superior officer. That way crew members can be detected if they are continually overindulging and receive proper counselling before it gets out of hand.

Beckett stops in her tracks in the entrance of the lounge at the sight of the very man she was just thinking about, sitting at a table near the bar and sharing a laugh about something with Esposito and Ryan. She then feels a nudge in her back that has her taking a slightly stumbling step forward as Lanie puts her shoulder into her back and says cheerfully, "Oh look, Kate, there's writer-boy now. Let's go join them."

Before Beckett can formulate any sort of protest the dark skinned doctor is sauntering over to the table to join the three seated men. With a resigned sigh Beckett follows and as she catches up with her friend she sees Castle look up and a genuine smile of pleasure appear on his lips at the sight of her.

"Ladies! Join us," says a happy Castle. He then turns to Ryan next to him and says good-naturedly, "Ryan, my man don't be rude, get some more chairs for the good doctor and our illustrious squad leader."

Surprisingly to her Ryan doesn't protest but actually quickly rises from his seat to acquire spare chairs from the surrounding tables for them to sit at. As they take their seats with words of thanks to the Engineer, Esposito has also risen to snag two more glasses from the bar and upon returning proceeds to fill them with an amber liquid from the bottle on the table.

As he does so Esposito says to them, "Drink up. This here is single malt scotch all the way from Scotland on Earth, courtesy of Castle."

With raised eyebrows in surprise Kate raises the now three fingers full glass to her lips and takes an appreciative sip of the rich, smoky liquid. As she feels the fine taste and not unpleasant heat of the liquor going down her throat she raises her eyebrows in surprise at the quality of the drink and lets those seated know, "Wow, nice stuff, Castle."

Castle, almost beaming at her in pleasure at her appreciation of his contribution to the evening, shrugs his shoulders in mock self-deprecation as he responds, "What can I say. I like the finer things in life and if you can't share those with your friends then what's the point of having them in the first place."

Again Beckett, as XO, knows there is more to his words than that. She gave approval herself to allow aboard the cases of fine and expensive alcohol that arrived at Sentinel base and are currently behind the bar at the end of the room for the whole crew to enjoy. All of them ordered and paid for by the man seated across the table from her and smiling contentedly at her. This generosity is yet another example to her how Castle is different to the man she first thought he was.

The next half an hour or so passes surprisingly easily for Beckett as she just enjoys spending time with people without the weight of her duty or responsibilities weighing her down. She also finds that connection she perceived with Castle is definitely there and seems to be growing. She finds herself catching his eye more and more as the discussion flows around the table and the playful twinkle she sees there does something pleasant to the pit of her stomach. She is finding that the man she sees now seated across from her, the funny, smart, perceptive and caring man is the real person and not the egotistical jackass that she thought he was.

They've just started on the second bottle of Castle's special stash and she, and she suspects the rest of the people around the table, are feeling the buzz. Esposito is telling a funny story about his first experience of zero-g combat training when they notice someone has stepped up to their table. They all look up and Beckett's spine immediately stiffens and her buzz disappears at the sight of one of the Asari Engineers, Lattia. The Asari is smiling widely at the group around the table but her gaze is focused at the brown haired writer seated across from Beckett.

"I hope you are enjoying your shower, Mister Castle?" says the blue skinned alien.

Becket shifts uncomfortably in her seat as that look of charm that Beckett sees as false comes across Castle's face as he replies pleasantly, "I love it, Lattia, and please call me Rick. You are the person that saves me from having to shower with the likes of these two after all." Caste cocks a thumb at Ryan and Esposito.

"Oh, I agree sharing a shower can be disconcerting, unless it is with the right person," Lattia responds and Beckett can hear the innuendo dripping from her voice. She refuses to acknowledge the flash of jealousy that rears its green eyed head in her mind at Castle being flirted with by the Asari. Then there is her already established discomfort with being around a biotic like Lattia and this fun and pleasant evening had suddenly gone to shit.

Then another surprise happens as she sees a look of wariness cross Castle's face and hope springs to life over her discomfort as she thinks that perhaps Castle isn't attracted to the obviously beautiful Engineer. He still maintains his charming front as he smiles back at the woman and says, "Yes, it definitely has to be the right person."

There is a brief silence and Beckett can see Lattia giving Castle an appraising look before she glances over at another table at the far end of the room where the other Asari, Mazia, is obviously waiting for her. The Asari smiles sweetly at those around the table before saying, "Well I'll leave you all to enjoy your evening. See you around, Commander, Major, Doctor, Lieutenant…Rick."

With the slight emphasis she gives to Castle's name at the end she again fixes him with her gaze before turning around and walking gracefully and with a definitive sway of her hips through the long, close fitting, purple dress she is wearing. As those around the table, men and women alike, watch the woman glide away Ryan chirps up with an explosive whisper directed at Castle, "Dude! She totally wants to wash your back, if you know what I mean."

Beckett turns from her critical appraisal of the Asari's very attractive figure to see Castle shrug his shoulders non-committedly as he attempts to play down what the interaction with the woman, "Oh, I don't know. She's just a fan of my books and she helped me out by installing that shower in my quarters. She's just being nice."

"Bro, there's being nice and then there's the look that woman was giving you. A look that said she wants to further Asari-Human relations with you in a very private session," adds Esposito, playfully giving him a nudge with his elbow.

"Yeah, well while she is beautiful I'm not interested in furthering inter-species relations with her in that way so she's going to have to be disappointed," responds Castle surprising frankly and Beckett sees him glance in her direction for a brief second as he says it. That little look has her thinking that he is worried that she might be upset with his flirting with Lattia and he would be right but not for the reason he is thinking…mostly.

"Well, I got to say, she's one fine woman. In fact I don't think I've seen an ugly Asari….Oww!" exclaims Esposito at the sharp nudge in the ribs he just received Lanie sitting next to him as he'd started wistfully talking on the attractive physical attributes of the Asari species.

As Esposito glares in affront at Laine who is now sipping with faux innocence on her drink Beckett thinks that in actual fact Espo isn't wrong. Like the Major she doesn't think she's seen an Asari that doesn't possess an ethereal beauty that immediately draws you to them.

They are one of the oldest spacefaring species, the first ones to find the massive Prothean station that is the Citadel, the seat of the galactic council, and they were, with the Salarians, the ones to create the Citadel Council. The Asari are a mono gendered, humanoid species where each member resembles a human female in basic body shape with a couple obvious exceptions.

Firstly their skin is generally blue with the occasional purple. The second thing is that on the top of their heads, instead of hair, there are flaps of skin that look like short tentacles but aren't and they sweep back from their faces in an approximation of hair. All of them seem to be intelligent, beautiful, slim, and all are biotics. Then there are the rumours about their mating practices.

From what Beckett's heard, because the Asari reproduce through some form of energy exchange between partners using the natural biotic ability they possess, they are able to mate with any other species or gender. That gives rises to countless unfounded stories of Asari promiscuity. However, again from what she's heard, it is rare for Asari to mate with other Asari these days. They prefer to add to their genetic diversity by bonding with non-Asari. The fact that any resulting offspring only has traces of the non-Asari mate's DNA and psychological make up means that any children from such unions are still Asari and look Asari with just bits added that you would only find if you looked on a cellular level.

Beckett is still pondering the Asari when two more people pass by their table and break her from her thoughts by calling a greeting out to her. Just as when Lattia approached them her spine stiffens and she feels immediate discomfort at being addressed by Gunnery Sergeant Hastings and Ensign Sullivan as they wave a friendly greeting to her and the others seated around the table as they pass.

The man and the woman continue on their way, carrying drinks and heading to one of the empty lounge chairs nearby. As they obviously don't intend to join them Beckett feels relief at not having to play nice and be falsely polite to the pair. She'd feel obligate to do so because they are under her command and despite her personal negative personal feelings towards the two biotic members of Bravo squad.

She looks around the table quickly to make sure that none of the others have noticed her relief and so start wondering why she might react so but no one seems to have noticed. The night then proceeds and she attempts to put the unpleasant feelings she had from the two brief encounters with the biotics behind her and enjoy herself.

As Castle's bottle of scotch is close to being empty the little group starts to break up. Ryan is first saying that he's got a vid chat with his girlfriend, a teacher at a school on one of the wards of the Citadel, and he departs to a whipping sound coming from Espo. Then, with some amusement, Beckett observes a series of furtive glances between Lanie and Espo and before long the marine is making some excuse about having to go and clean his gear. Coincidentally Laine says at the same time that she's got some paperwork to finish and together the pair wish her and Castle goodnight and leave.

"How long has that been going on?" asks Castle as her friend and the normally grisly Major leave trying to look like they are not leaving together and failing miserably?

She looks back at him and he is looking at her playfully as she answers, "I'm not sure. Could be they started before I joined the ship. It's odd though. Lanie is normally the queen of oversharing but until today I didn't know about the two of them. "

"That could mean it's serious," suggests Castle as he pours what is left at the bottom of the bottle equally between his and her glasses.

She dips her head in slight acceptance of his idea, "Maybe, I've never seen her be really serious about a relationship before so I've got nothing to compare it with."

They each take swigs of the scotch in their tumblers and they share a companionable silence for a moment. It is then that Beckett is struck by the fact that she is sitting here, quite happily sharing a drink with Castle, alone, and none of her previous feelings of annoyance or frustration with the man are present and causing her to rush for the exit. In fact she's thinking that if the bottle wasn't empty she'd happily share more drinks with the writer for as long as there is liquid in the bottle.

As Beckett puts her drink back down she looks up at Castle and, since she's feeling so well disposed towards him right now, decides to ask him something that has been plaguing her for a little while now, "So Castle, this…uh….character your basing on me. What's she like?"

A teasing look appears in his eye as he responds, "Oh, you've got nothing to worry about, Beckett…..mostly. She's tough, intelligent, strong, sexy…..and just little bit slutty."

Great he just had to ruin the night, she thinks as Beckett fixes him with a glare at that last bit and she challenges with a low growl, "You think I'm slutty?"

Castle holds up his hands in mock surrender as he backtracks, "No, no, no. Not you, the character in my book is and that piece of her personality is just my fevered imagination and has nothing to do with any persons living or dead." He finishes in a rush at the end like a legal disclaimer at the end of a drug advertisement.

Seeing that he is actually worried that he's caused offence and recognising that he was only joking earlier she decides to relent a little, "Ok, Castle I'll believe you but I still can't see how you think someone like me would make an interesting character for a book anyway."

Castle gives her an incredulous look as he responds, "Have you met you? Kate, you are one of the most extraordinary and badass people I have ever met and that's not even mentioning how beautiful you are. All this despite the struggles you've had to get where you are and what drives you to be the best there is."

Just like when Lattia and the biotics of Bravo squad were near she feels her spine stiffen at Castle's words as she blurts out, "What do you mean, driven?"

This time Castle looks away from her with an embarrassed look on his face and not looking at her he says, "Umm, nothing. It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

"Castle!" she presses. "What do you mean my struggles and being driven? What do you know about me? Been doing some research about me on the side?"

This time Castle looks back at her in the eye and sheepishly says, "I promise I haven't researched you but I notice things, it's what I do. As a writer I observe things, people and in the time I've known you I've observed a few things about you. That's all."

"What things, Castle?" she presses again not wanting to let him off the hook.

Castle gives a resigned sigh as he realises that she isn't going to let this go and looking her in the eye he responds sincerely indicating towards her left arm, "I noticed that antique watch you wear. It's a man's watch and while you are as macho as any woman I've ever met something about it, particularly its age, tells me it has sentimental value to you."

Unconsciously Beckett covers the said watch with her hand as Castle continues, "That got me thinking because I've also seen that you look uncomfortable sometimes when others talk about their families or mainly their parents and to me that seems to be linked to this sadness that you carry deep within you. On top of that there's you. A beautiful, intelligent woman like you doesn't usually become an Alliance soldier. No, someone like you becomes a lawyer, a model, an actress or CEO of a company but not a soldier. I'd say growing up you had options, more socially acceptable options for a career than this. That and the sadness I've seen tells me that something happened that drove you to this life, something traumatic."

Beckett feels like her whole being is being laid bare as Castle continues with an apologetic tone, "Whatever it was didn't happen to you, you're hurt but not that damaged. The man's watch you wear makes me think that something happened to your father. Something so terrible that it drove you to becoming a soldier to fight those that did the horrible thing to him and to stop it happening to others." There is another pause as he continues to look her in the eye and with a tinge of sorrow and with total sincerity he says, "It's who you are. It's your backstory and I while I can't imagine how traumatic it was for you at the time I can only marvel at the strong and brilliant woman that sits before me today as a result."

There is a long pause as Kate's emotions war with themselves at being so easily and precisely read by the man opposite her. She's angry, upset, embarrassed and disappointed all at once that he's seen these things in her. However, as she looks at him and the sorrowful and embarrassed look he is giving her she knows that he has taken no pleasure in telling her these things. As he said, it is who he is. He sees things and she shouldn't be surprised that he's seen quite a lot of things about her given how closely he's been hanging around her lately.

Part of her wants to storm out, straight to the Captain and request a transfer so that she can get away from Castle and his oh so perceptive mind. Another part of her is strangely grateful that someone, even someone who has known her for such a short time, knows her and the pain she has felt since that terrible January day and understands it. Because the look on Castle's face that she is seeing now tells her that he understands. Before she would have interpreted such a look as pity and been insulted but she doesn't get pity from him. No, what she gets is concern and a willingness to help.

Normally she'd shun any such offers of help but again there is something about Castle that has her second guessing her instinct to just blow up at him and run away. It has been years and she has, somewhat, come to terms with her past and what made her become an Alliance officer. Her discomfort with biotics aside that is. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to talk to him about it, as long as she makes it clear that it doesn't turn up in his book. Perhaps the best way to do that is to give him the information herself so that he doesn't find out for himself and use it without giving her an opportunity to control it.

Then there is the wounded puppy look he is giving her right now as he waits for the explosion from her or for her run away. Making a decision that is out of character for her and may be helped by the eighteen year old scotch she just consumed, she decides to relent and open up.

She holds Castle's gaze as she tentatively admits, "It wasn't my dad. It was my mom."

Castle shakes his head as if he can't believe he's hearing what he is hearing and he stammers back, "Uh, what?"

With slowly increasing confidence as the weight of what he is telling her is lifted from her shoulders she continues, "It was years ago, I was in college at the time. Both my parents are lawyers who worked on the Citadel and I was studying to be one too back on Earth. I was there to see them for Christmas break, it was early January and we arranged to meet at this restaurant on my last night before going back. My dad and I waited for ages for my mom to turn up but she was late. Eventually we decided that my mom must have got tied up with a case she was working on and forgot about our dinner. She would get obsessed with her cases like that sometimes so we didn't think anything was wrong despite our calls to her going unanswered. It wasn't until we got to the apartment building on the Presidium where my parents were living and saw the cars from Citadel Security out front and the Detective inside waiting for us that we learned how wrong we were."

"Kate, you don't have to tell me," pleads Castle and from the look on his face she can tell he knows how painful this memory is for her.

She shakes her head to ward off his plea. Now that she's started she's not going to stop until she's told her whole story, "It's Ok, Castle. Anyway this Detective Raglan of Citadel Security tells us that my mom had been found murdered in some alley in Bachjret Ward. Her money and jewellery weren't taken and there was no sign of sexual assault. According to the Detective various gangs of mercenaries were fighting over territory in the area of the ward where her body was found and that, along with how she died, pointed to her getting caught up in the cross fire of their fight for dominance."

"What do you mean how she died?" asks Castle carefully but also with what she thinks now is a tinge of morbid curiosity.

With a hitch in her voice she tells him, "She'd been ripped apart, Castle. The Medical Examiner determined that a very powerful biotic had used a warp field to rip her body almost in half from the inside out. At that time, besides the Asari, most biotics regardless of the species could only be found in the military or in mercenary bands. Apparently the mercs fighting in the Ward had plenty of biotics working for them. But a biotic doesn't leave any physical evidence behind so there was no way to pin it on an individual. C-Sec mounted a campaign with the help of a Council Spectre and cleaned the mercs out but they never found out who it was that killed my mom. It's why to this day that I don't trust a biotics. Trust a person that with a single thought can rip a whole family's world apart."

Beckett picks up her glass and downs the rest of her drink in one gulp. She then puts the glass down but immediately looks up as a sorrowful Castle and says, "I'm so sorry, Kate."

"My dad took her death hard, just like I did but for him he'd lost the love of his life. He decided to try a loose his grief at the bottom of a bottle. While he tried to forget by drowning in booze I decided to quit school, join the Alliance and go to the Academy so I could fight against mercenary scum like the ones that killed my mom. My dad got worse and worse, lost his job and almost his life before I was able to convince him to check into rehab. He's been sober for five years now." She pulls out the chain with the ring on it that is hidden underneath her day working uniform and holds it up of him to see followed by the wrist with the watch, "This ring is my mom's, it's for the life I lost. The watch is my dad's and it's for the life I saved. So there you have it, Castle, your character has a dark brooding backstory now."

The sorrow in his eyes and the dark memories she's just dredged up have her own eyes glistening with unshed tears as he responds, "Oh, I don't know I kinda prefer the whole soldier by day hooker by night backstory for her myself." And she is grateful for the playfulness in his tone as he attempts to diffuse the morbid atmosphere with humour.

It actually gets a snort of amusement from her which is something that has never happened so soon after telling it to one of the few people she's told this story too. She gives Castle a grateful look at his attempt but then asks earnestly, "Seriously though. Please don't use this in your book."

He shakes his head emphatically, "Of course not, Kate. You can trust me. I'd never use something so personal for Nikki."

She nods in acceptance and gratitude at that but then her mind stops and fixates on the name he just said and she calls him out on it, "Wait? What? Nikki? The character's name is Nikki?"

Castle's cheeks actually go red as he blushes and almost cringes as he tells her, "Uh, yes, Nikki Heat, badass Alliance commando, scourge of wrongdoers across the galaxy. And think of the titles… Dead Heat….Rising Heat…. _In Heat."_ He says the last one with a tone laced with innuendo.

Again she can see what he is doing. Trying to divert them from the upsetting discussion they just had by getting her distracted about this ridiculous name for the character. She's actually grateful to him for that and so she is going to play along.

With a semi-serious glare and a raised eyebrow she folds her arms across her chest and asks pointedly, "Castle, what kind of name is Nikki Heat?"

* * *

 _A/N: It took longer to get this chapter out than I thought but here it is finally. Some of you will again recognise some of the lines from Castle, rearranged slightly though they are. Again this chapter is to try and get them closer sooner. More action to come. Thanks for reading._


	11. Chapter 11

_Disclaimer: I do not own or control Castle or Mass Effect at all._

* * *

 _SSV New York - in transit - Terminus Systems_

Castle sits anxiously in the dark and waits. While he waits he thinks over the last couple of weeks and the change to his life that if someone had told him would happen he would have immediately laughed them off. He freely admits that the change is due to one person. The person he is waiting in the dark for….Kate Beckett.

Ever since that night in the crew lounge, when she'd told him of the tragic story of her mother and the devastating effect it had on both her and her father, they have become closer. Now when he turns up and presents her with the metal travel mug holding her morning vanilla latte he gets a smile from her and not the confused scowl that he'd received previously.

He has even been able to make her laugh on occasion. Usually after he has made some humorous observation on the bromance that is the relationship between the other members of their squad, Ryan and Esposito. They also have been spending more time together when she is off duty as well. The conversations they've had during their times together have varied from being light and funny to the occasional intimate and sobering as they have told each other of some of the more difficult times from their pasts.

Castle, about being the son of a single parent, sent to boarding schools while his hard working actress mother struggled to make ends meet. Boarding schools where he would stand out as the poor bastard son of an actress amongst the well to do offspring of CEO's, politicians and families with 'old money'. How he had developed his outer skin of casual boehme and irreverence as a cloak against the insults that would be directed at him because he was different and stood out so. Insults as cruel as only children can make them. Eventually he worked past this and found his place as the class clown and prankster and he played up to this image as a way to try and fit in and find his place amongst his peers. All the while finding refuge in his writing.

Beckett told of having to overcome the prejudices aimed at her during her time at the Alliance Academy where she was lumbered with the nickname the 'hot recruit'. That because of her looks and fairly well off and sheltered background that she wasn't taken seriously when she first started training. That many said behind her back and some to her face that she wouldn't be able to cut it as an Alliance soldier or that if she did make her way up the ranks that it would be on her back.

Such distasteful remarks and offhand dismissal of her abilities, coupled with her already simmering determination thanks to her mother's death only served to fuel her desire to be the best soldier she could be. All so that she could prove the nay-sayers, not to mention the niggling doubts in the back of her own mind, wrong. By the time she graduated from basic training she was top of her class though not without the guidance of a grisly Gunnery Sergeant that saw her potential and took her under his wing. Not only top of her class but she held most of the records for achievements like best marksmanship or hand to hand combat with only the legendary Commander Sheppard having scores that were close to hers. Records that she had bashfully but also prideful admitted to him that still stand to this day.

Yet again Castle marvels at the strength and integrity in the woman that he now freely admits to himself means more to him than just an inspiration for a new, successful, character or as a possible brief fling. No, he can see more of a future with Kate Beckett than he can now say he ever saw with his two previous wives put together.

Though her role as inspiration and muse, a term she has told him not to use on pain of her breaking his legs, remains significant. It was only yesterday that he got an email from Gina, surprisingly praising the first three chapters he had sent her with his new heroin, Nikki Heat. For his serious ex-wife the enthusiasm she had shown for the new character and the story he had supplied so far had almost boarded on giddy.

Of course his slave driver of a publisher had tempered the positivity of the email by demanding further chapters as soon as possible. Still he can't quite believe that the same woman that looks to be supplying him with the best character he has come up with yet is also starting to hold a place in his heart that he never thought would be occupied with anyone, other than Alexis.

It is because of the positive feedback from his publisher that he has invited Beckett here, to this darkened cargo hold, to celebrate and to have their first official date. Then the dark niggle that has been at the back of his mind for a while now reasserts itself as he recalls the other reason he has invited Beckett here. To tell her the one thing from his past that no one beside a very small few know. A thing that has his guts churning with apprehension as he contemplates Beckett's possible and probable reaction to such a revelation about him.

Part of him wants not to tell her. To keep this blossoming relationship between them going for as long as possible before he is forced to burst it's bubble. However another part of him, the responsible part that very few would credit him with, knows that it would not be fair to either of them to start a relationship with his secret hanging over them. If anything is sure to end them it would be the revealing of such a significant part of him, that Beckett has her own stated deep held attitudes about, after more time has passed and they have become more serious. No, he has to tell her and let her decide if she is willing to accept him and keep this thing between them going. One thing is for sure, if she does reject him as a result of what he is about to tell her, then he has resolved to bother her no longer. He'll end his 'shadowing' of her and her squad and, regretfully, bid her a fond farewell.

He grins ruefully to himself as he thinks how Beckett, when he first met her, would have gladly accepted such an outcome. Now he hopes that she won't just blindly reject him but will be prepared to give them a chance. He really hopes she will.

The sound of the large metal doors of the cargo bay opening draws him from his introspection and he looks up to see the very appealing silhouette of the woman he was just contemplating standing in the lit rectangle of the open hatchway. He watches as she takes a step forward into the room and her silhouette is gone as the doors close automatically behind her.

"Castle? Are you here?" Beckett calls into the darkness.

"I'm here, Kate," he replies and he turns on the light globe that is on the deck beside him.

The light from the globe isn't strong, only illuminating him and the immediate area around him, leaving the rest of the cargo bay in darkness. He hears the tread of her boots on the deck and like a mystical apparition of beauty she emerges out of the darkness as she gradually becomes visible as she enters the light and approaches him. Even dressed as she is in her normal blue and grey Alliance working jumpsuit his breath is still stolen from him at how beautiful she is.

Pulling himself together he pats the deck beside him and says, "Join me."

Again he watches her as she does that little nervous gesture of hers of tucking a strand of her lustrous chestnut hair behind an ear as she smiles slightly and sits down beside him, legs crossed like his. She looks at him and with a slightly teasing grin asks, "So this is your idea of a romantic date huh, Castle? Sitting is a dark cargo bay? I would have expected better from man of the galaxy like you."

"Well, we are several hundred lightyears from the usual three Michelin star restaurants on the Citadel that I would normally take you to so needs must," Castle responds playfully back at her. He then activates the Omni-tool implant on his left arm and taps a quick command as he continues, "Regardless I think you'll find the ambience here something none of those fancy places come close to having."

As he finishes there is a shimmering of the floor beneath them as the holographic field he'd arranged disengages. He hears a gasp of surprise and pleasure from Beckett as beneath them a field of stars comes into view and it appears as if they are sitting, suspended in space above them. Only the slight glow directly beneath them reveals that they are resting on the kinetic barrier that covers the open exterior cargo bay door that they are sitting on top of.

After taking a moment to look between her knees at the twinkling stars that are moving slowly beneath them, Beckett then looks up at him and with a wide smile that causes his heart to stutter at its sight. She then says earnestly, "This is beautiful."

He gives her a smile in return as he says, "Well I figured with the amount of space hours you've logged that you wouldn't suffer from vertigo so I was pretty safe doing this."

As she chuckles in response he turns slightly to pick up the two glasses of red wine he'd prepared before she arrived. Turning to face her again he passes one to her, taps their glasses together with a musical ting and says, "Cheers."

"Cheers," she responds and together they each take a sip of the rich and fruity liquid.

Caste reaches behind him again and pulls the plastic tub that is his makeshift picnic basket into view until it is resting between them. He then proceeds to pull out the simple but tasty meal that the chief cook prepared for him at the cost of two box seats to the Biotiball Championship game on Thessia in a few months.

Again they share a smile as he lays out the meal on plates between them and Beckett lets her appreciation of his efforts known as she exclaims, "Wow, Castle. You've gone all out. You really know how to treat a girl."

He shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly, "What can I say, I like to treat a woman the way they deserve to be treated. As it is you are not getting the full Richard Castle treatment. If we weren't in the depths of the Terminus Systems I would have had a bouquet of roses for you as well. As it is you'll just have to make do with this meal, the wine and me."

Beckett takes another sip of her wine and he can see her eyes sparkling in the light thrown by the light globe between them before she responds a little huskily, "Oh, I'm sure you'll do."

He returns the loaded look she gives him and finishes laying the food on her plate and presents it to her. They then spend their time happily eating the dinner of chicken Kiev and accompanying vegetables that the chief cook has prepared for them with the conversation flowing easily between them as they eat and drink.

It is as they are each having forkful of the large, single slice of Tiramisu for dessert they are sharing that an unpleasant feeling starts making its presence known in the pit of his stomach and he's pretty sure it's not food poisoning. No, the time is fast approaching for him to tell Beckett his secret. How she is going to react is turning the very pleasant meal they consumed into a lead ball in his guts as he contemplates all the worst case scenarios of her possible reaction.

He doesn't want to spoil their evening let alone their possible future together but he owes it to her to be completely honest with her before they go any further. Hell, they haven't even had their first kiss yet and that's because, again, he didn't want to take that step before he had a chance to tell her everything about him.

As a result of his growing apprehension the conversation between them dries up as they finish their dessert. Castle can see Beckett looking at him curiously and he knows that she has picked up on his preoccupation.

Castle then busies himself putting their finished dishes back into the plastic tub in a vain attempt to delay the inevitable if only for a couple more moments. Beckett has other ideas as she obviously decides to call him on his seemingly sudden change of attitude and she asks, "What's the matter, Rick?"

With him currently turned away from her, his hands in the tub having placed the last of their dishes inside, he sighs deeply and his shoulders sag. He then steels himself and turns to face her.

The look she is giving him is full of curiosity and he sighs again as he gathers his courage to speak, "Kate, there's something I need to tell you."

Seeing how serious he now is Beckett sits up straight, folds her hands in her lap, looks him in the eye and says, "Ok, what is it?"

Castle takes a breath before continuing, "Kate, I…."

At that moment they are both startled by the loud blaring of the alarm klaxon from the PA system above. The intimate darkness of the cargo bay is broken as red lights start flashing on the walls around them. The romantic image of the stars beneath them then slowly disappears as with a deep rumble the large, exterior cargo bay door starts closing.

Then the urgent voice of Yeoman Ellis is heard over the sound of the alert klaxon, "All hands, all hands, set condition one throughout the ship. All hands, man your battle stations!"

The woman's voice has barely started repeating the announcement before Beckett has sprung to her feet and is already purposely striding towards the exit. Castle sits there stunned that the universe could be so cruel as to interrupt him just as he was about to bare his soul. As the cargo bay door beneath him clangs shut with a deep tremor that he feels through the still activated kinetic barrier he feels like a door just has large has slammed shut over his chance to tell her the truth.

Beckett has paused half way to the exit of the cargo bay and is looking back at him curiously and she asks, "You coming, Castle?"

He shakes off his chagrin at being interrupted as he replies quickly, "Um…oh…yeah, Beckett, right behind you."

Castle then springs to his feet and is hot on Beckett's heels as she strides quickly out of the cargo bay. He follows her down the corridor to the nearest lift all the while red lights flash about them, the alarm klaxon squawks above them and they dodge other crew members hurrying to their stations.

It is when they are in the lift on their way to CIC that Beckett turns to him and asks apologetically, "I'm sorry, Castle. You wanted to tell be something?"

Castle shakes his head while in his mind he resolves to tell her his secret as soon as whatever this current crisis is over. There is no way he is going to stand between her and her duty so what he was about to tell her can wait. He just promises himself that it won't wait much longer.

"No, it can wait. Let's just get through this and I'll tell you after," he tells her honestly and he gives her a sincere look to reinforce his words.

Beckett gives him a thoughtful look, then nods in acceptance saying, "Alright, if you're sure."

Nodding earnestly so that she will forget about what he was about to reveal and concentrate on the current alert he responds, "I'm sure."

"Ok then," she says in acceptance just as the lift doors open.

They then both walk side by side into the CIC. As a pair they walk up to Captain Montgomery who is standing next to the holographic galaxy map in the centre of the room and as they approach Castle can see two points flashing red on the map.

"What's up, sir?" Beckett asks as they join Roy at the map.

"It's bad, Beckett. We've received reports of two attacks happening simultaneously. One is here in the Eagle Nebula Cluster and the other is in the Shadow Sea Cluster," the Captain tells them pointing at the flashing indicators on the hologram. "One is an agricultural colony on the planet Imir. The other is another agricultural colony on the planet Horizon. Alliance Command has ordered us to go to Imir as we're closer to there than Horizon."

"What about Horizon?" Castle asks his friend.

"Command is sending the nearest ship that's on patrol in the Attican Traverse but it will be at least a day before they can get there," Montgomery shrugs his shoulders and gives him a regretful look. "Unfortunately we can't be in two places at once so Command chose to send us to the one that we can get to the quickest. As it is we are really close to Imir and we'll arrive there in approximately thirty minutes. We're just about to go through the relay that will take us straight to the system now."

"Whoever they are they probably planned these combined attacks for the very reason that we can't get to both," Castle reasons and he sees Beckett nodding in agreement.

Montgomery also nods in agreement, "You're probably right, Castle. Plus I don't like how we are conveniently close to one planet but too far from the other to help. It's almost as if they want us to go to Imir. It's why I've sent us to battle stations now. I want us to be ready for anything." He then turns to Beckett and says, "That said, Beckett, I want you to muster both squads on the flight deck, fully geared up and ready for immediate drop onto the colony when we get there."

"Aye aye, Captain," acknowledges Beckett coming to quick attention before turning on her heels and striding back towards the lift.

Castle quickly follows her and together they ride the lift down to the flight deck and as they do so Castle tries to tamp down the rising apprehension that this situation is causing in the pit of his stomach. He hopes that the _New York,_ its crew and both Beckett and he can handle what they are going to find at Imir.

Soon all feelings of apprehension are banished from his mind, at least temporarily, as he concentrates on donning his armour and reading his weapon, along with all the marines, in the armoury in a corner of the flight deck. The deck is full of noise as shuttles and fighters are being fuelled, armed and moved into launch positions. He is even distracted briefly from strapping on his thigh plate as a deep rumble nearby announces that the ship's six wheeled, armoured fighting vehicle, the M35 Mako, has been started up and is being moved into position to be attached to the base of one of the shuttles for drop onto the planet.

As the marines about him busy themselves with their last minute checks he looks around until he can catch the eye of Beckett. She returns his look and they hold eye contact for a long moment before she gives him an encouraging nod. He returns her nod and then gets back to putting on his armour.

He is just securing his helmet into place when Castle hears the reassuringly calm voice of his daughter come over the PA announcing, "All hands prepare for relay transition in three….two….one!"

There is a brief movement beneath his feet as even the inertial dampening field of the mass effect core cannot totally mitigate the effect of the ship being hurled at greater than light speeds from one mass relay to another, dozens of light years away, in the blink of an eye. Barely three seconds later, there is a much more violent and pronounced bucking of the deck beneath him that brings a couple of the marines around him to their knees.

Through the audio pick-ups in his helmet he hears a load clang, like the ringing of a large bell and he looks over at the helmeted head of Beckett to see her reaction. She is looking up at the deck above as she says, "We've been hit."

* * *

Outside, in the blackness of space surrounding the gigantic hollow device with its two spinning rings of metal at its centre that is the Mass Relay, the _New York_ staggers as it recovers from the glancing blow the bright beam of yellow energy that had been aimed at it dissipates. If it wasn't for the quick reflexes of its pilot, Alexis Castle, who saw the menacing shape of the cylindrical alien ship just as they reverted back to normal space and was able to side-slip the ship out of the way, they would have been hit with the beam of energy full on. Even with the _New York's_ advanced shields and armour plating it is doubtful they would have survived a direct hit from such a powerful weapon.

As Alexis sets the ship is a constantly moving, random pattern of manoeuvres to avoid any further fire, there is distinct scoring on the port side of the ship but fortunately no breach of the hull as the advanced shields and armour were able, at least, to absorb a glancing hit. GUARDIAN defence lasers along the same side of the ship immediately start opening fire on the enemy vessel and their impacts can be seen striking the shields of the enemy in several places but with no discernible effect.

The _New York_ is soon able to put some distance between it and the slowly turning vessel and it is apparent that the Alliance cruiser has the advantage of speed and manoeuvrability. It is again due to the ships' agility that Alexis is again able to dodge out of the way of another powerful burst of yellow energy from the front of the enemy ship as it orientates itself towards the evading _New York._

A barrage of missiles are launched from the aft tubes of the _New York_ and they speed at the enemy ship. However, before the missiles can find their target several small devices or probes, about half the size of a fighter, are launched from the alien ship and proceed to shoot down the missiles with beams of red energy.

In response Captain Montgomery orders their own fighters to be launched and the first one is catapulted from the launch bay and straight into the fight.

* * *

Castle whips around in time to see the second of the _New York's_ four Trident fighters hurtle down the flight deck on its mass driver catapult, engines screaming and leaving blue fire in its wake. The ship is flung through the kinetic barrier covering the open hatchway at the other end of the flight deck and into the blackness of space beyond, disappearing as it makes a sudden turn once it is clear of the flight deck.

As the third Trident follows close behind and the fourth positions itself on the other catapult he turns his attention back to those standing around just as there is a sustained shudder in the deck beneath him and the voice of Captain Montgomery comes over the comms in his helmet.

" _Ground assault is off, Beckett. Two of these probe things got in under our shields and hit us two compartments forward of the engine room on deck seven. They've managed to breach the hull but the emergency barriers are up so the breach is contained. The fighters just took the probes responsible out. I need you to get there and take command of damage control. Copy?_ "

Beckett touches the side of her helmet near her ear as she replies, "Copy, sir." She then turns to Esposito and says, "Espo, take command of the squads and assume space combat stations. Be prepared to repel boarders if there is any attempt to board."

Once the major has nodded his head in acknowledgement Beckett is off towards the lift at the end of the flight deck at a half jog. Thinking that his place is by Beckett's side, Castle follows close behind her and joins her in the lift just as the doors close.

"Where are you going, Castle?" Beckett's inquiring voice sounds in his helmet.

"I'm shadowing you remember, Beckett. Where you go I go," he responds matter-of-factly, hoping he is leaving no room for argument.

There is a pause and just as the door of the lift opens onto deck seven Beckett nods her head once and says, "Ok then, but stay close and do everything I say."

He follows her onto the deck and down the corridor and responds, "Of course, don't I always." He immediately holds up an armoured hand and says, "Don't answer that."

Before long they arrive at the sight of the hull breach. This time it is far from a romantic sight for Castle to see the stars through the shimmering haze of the emergency kinetic barrier that has been thrown up in place over the jagged hole, the size of a person, that is in the side of the corridor. Broken conduits spark at the edges of the breach as a damage control party of four crew members try manoeuvring a large metal plate over it as a temporary patch.

Beckett and Castle quickly add their shoulders to help and with their aid the plate is soon in place over the breach and two of the damage control party are welding the patch in place.

Beckett then turns to the petty officer in charge of the party and says, "Report?"

The man turns his head inside the combat environment suit he is wearing and says brusquely, "Just this breach so far, Commander. We should have it sealed in two minutes. Atmosphere was lost in the corridor for five seconds before the barrier went up."

"Was anyone in the corridor at the time?" Castle asks over Beckett's shoulder.

The twenty something Caucasian man grimaces at Castle's question, "Internal sensors recorded that Crewmen Habib and Walsh were in the corridor at the time. Both were blown out into space before the barrier went up."

There is a grim silence for a moment as they consider the terrible fate of the two crew members before Beckett says determinedly, "As soon as this is over we'll send out every shuttle we have to recover their bodies."

Then over the PA comes the calm voice of Captain Montgomery, " _All hands brace for main weapon discharge."_

* * *

After avoiding several more blasts from the enemy ships' main weapon Alexis has finally been able to bring the _New York's_ bow to bear on the alien vessel so that they can return the favour. At the nose of the cruiser two round ports, side by side, open and a red glow builds in the black holes left by the open ports as the _New York's_ main armament, the Thanix Cannon, prepares to fire.

The Thanix Cannon is yet another piece of experimental technology that is a part of the _New York's_ design. The weapon is of Turian design, based on technology salvaged by Turian volunteers during the clean-up after the Battle of the Citadel.

During the clean-up of the battle ravaged Citadel the Turians recovered the main weapon from the wreckage of the sentient, enemy dreadnought, _Sovereign._ From the weapon Turian scientists were able to develop the Thanix.

At the weapon's core is a liquid alloy of iron, uranium and tungsten suspended in an electrometric field powered by element zero. The molten metal, accelerated to a significant fraction of the speed of light, solidifies into a projectile as it is fired, hitting targets with enough force to pierce any known shield or armour. Because of the velocity at which the projectile is traveling at it looks like a beam of energy is emitting from the weapon when in fact what the observer is seeing in the glowing projectile streaking across space at incomprehensible speed.

At first the Turians started small with their designs, making versions capable of being fitted to a fighter and then a frigate giving both firepower rivalling a dreadnought. The twin cannons in the bow of the _New York_ are the largest version yet and mark the first time the weapon has been mounted on a capital ship.

At Captain Montgomery's command two apparent beams of red light leap from the front of the _New York_ towards the enemy vessel. Despite its lack of manoeuvrability the large enemy ship, at least twenty times the size of the human cruiser, manages to turn and move out of the way of the incoming fire enough so that only one of the red beams of light hits it near one edge towards the front of the ship.

Regardless the ship staggers in space as it is hit and debris forms a slowly expanding cloud around its front at the gaping, glowing hole left behind by one of the Thanix. The alien ship continues its turn and soon is pointing straight at the nearby Mass Relay.

On the flying bridge, as she moves the _New York_ to try and keep the bow pointed at the enemy so that they can fire the Thanix again once it is rearmed, Alexis sees through the view port in front of her station large electrical discharges arc between the Relay and the alien ship. She mutters to Flight Ensign Bicks, her co-pilot in the seat next to her, "Looks like their trying to make a run for it."

Then on the small tactical hologram projected between their stations she sees the random red dots that are the surviving probes that were launched by the enemy ship all make abrupt turns and start converging on the green icon at the centre of the projection that represents the _New York._ A few of the red dots wink out as their fighters shoot them down and the defence lasers on the flanks of the cruiser also start taking them out. The remaining dots all pick up speed and Alexis' fingers are flying over the controls to try and get the ship out of the way of the blatant kamikaze runs of the probes.

As the dots get closer and closer from different directions it is plain that no matter the efforts of their fighters, defence batteries or he own fancy flying they are going to be hit by at least some of the probes. Sweat pouring off her brow her hands are a blur over the controls as she tries to coax the last scraps of speed and agility from the _New York._

She cringes as the remaining three dots get closer and closer to the icon that is the _New York_ and she hears Captain Montgomery's voice over the PA say, " _All hands brace for impact."_

* * *

 _"_ _All hands brace for impact,"_ hears Castle from the comms in his helmet as he and Beckett stand with the damage control party as it finishes its work patching the hull breach.

Not two seconds later there is an explosion and rending crash of metal at the far end of the corridor where they are standing and they are all thrown to the deck. From his prone position Castle sees that another breach has been torn into the side of the ship about ten meters down the corridor from where they are. Atmosphere and loose items in the corridor are being blown out of the breach in the hull and into the dark space he can see in the gaping hole that is about four meters across.

He can feel the tug of the rushing atmosphere on himself but fortunately he has been able to desperately hook his fingers into the grating of the deck plate and brace a leg against a support beam protruding from the side of the corridor to stop following the rushing air into the vacuum outside. He looks around for Beckett and the others and is relieved to see Beckett holding on grimly to another support beam on the other side of the corridor. The rest of the members of the damage control party have also been able to secure themselves by griping onto protruding parts of the corridor.

Even as wonders why the emergency barrier hasn't gone up yet there is a snap audible over his audio pick-ups and the hand rail that the petty officer in charge of the party was holding onto fails. The man yells fearfully as he starts tumbling towards the hull breach. As he passes Beckett, arms flailing, she reached out to grab him with one hand. She succeeds but the man has too much momentum which is too much for her grip on the support beam and so she loses her anchor and joins the man in being blown towards the gaping hole in the side of the ship.

"Beckett, No!" Castle yells with anguish at the sight of her tumbling towards her doom.

Without thought he releases his finger holds on the deck plate and before he can follow in the wake of Beckett and the Petty Officer he extends his hands towards the breach. Using every ounce of desperation fuelled adrenalin he wills the most powerful biotic field he can at the breach. Just like that the rushing air stops and Beckett and the Petty Officer halt their seemingly inevitable rush towards certain death.

Castle is on his knees, his arms are shaking and sweat is pouring from his brow with the effort of maintaining a biotic barrier over the breach for so long that is capable of keeping the atmosphere in. His vision is getting cloudy and pain sears at the base of his skull as he uses all the reserves of energy he has to maintain the barrier but he can still just manage to feel some relief at the sight of Beckett slowing getting to her feet and looking at him.

He needs to hold on until Beckett and the others can get out but he knows he won't be able to hold it for too much longer. He can feel his energy draining and just as he is about to pass out the lights in the corridor that had gone out when the hull was breached come back on. He can just make out through his fatigued haze the shimmering light of an emergency kinetic barrier appearing over his biotic one to seal the breach.

Relieved Castle drops his hands and the biotic barrier disappears as he lets the darkness of exhaustion claim him and he falls to the deck unconscious.

* * *

 _A/N: So Castle is a secret biotic. How will this affect the burgeoning relationship with Beckett? All I'll say is that I will never write a story where Beckett and Castle aren't together so have no fear that while this will add some drama between them the ultimate goal is for them to be together._

 _Thank you to everyone that is reading this story._


	12. Chapter 12

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or Mass Effect._

* * *

 _SSV New York – in orbit of planet Imir- Terminus Systems_

"Thanks, Baker," Beckett says wearily to the brown haired petty officer as she passes the data pad back to him having added her digital signature to that of the Chief Engineer.

It has been two days since the battle with the alien ship at the mass relay and they have finally completed enough repairs to allow them to break orbit and risk travel by the relay back to Alliance space. Once back in home space they will be able to dock the ship and carry out more permanent repairs than the jury rigging that the crew has worked non-stop to complete over the last 48 hours.

The hull has a total of four breaches, three of which resulted from impacts caused by the final suicide runs of the alien probes. They have to be patched, the final one of which she just signed off on, before they can risk travel through the relay. Not that their mysterious foes seemed to have any similar restriction. Besides tearing through the hull at multiple points the impact of the probes also caused main power to go off line for a total of one minute. While they'd been so briefly disabled the enemy had taken the opportunity to make their escape through the relay despite the damage to their own ship.

When main power had been restored and in no condition to purse, they'd slowly made their way to the planet Imir only to find the colony intact having suffered no attack and neither had they sent any distress signal. The obvious conclusion they'd reached as a result was that the distress call received by Alliance Command was a false signal sent by the enemy aliens to lure them here to destroy them. Fortunately for them they had held their own and the enemy had obviously underestimated the firepower of the new cruiser and so had been forced to retreat. However the Alliance ship didn't get off Scott-free. Unfortunately for them, besides the hull damage, a total of eight crew members had lost their lives and three times that number suffered a variety of injuries as a result of the engagement.

Ever since Beckett has not allowed herself time to stop or think or mourn their losses. No, she's thrown herself into overseeing the makeshift repairs so that the _New York_ can one again be space worthy not to mention battle ready. Just in case their attackers return.

She's kept herself deliberately distracted so that she doesn't have to think about anything but repairing the ship. Deliberately so that she can't spare any time to think about the man that is currently recovering in the sickbay.

She still hasn't fully processed what it means to her that Castle is not just the funny, caring, handsome and intelligent man she thought he was. The man for whom she had been seriously considering lowering the walls around her heart and letting get closer to her than any man has gotten in a long time. No, he's also one of those people that she has distrusted since that January night when her world had been literally torn apart…a biotic.

As she turns around to walk down the corridor she stops in her tracks in surprise and a little annoyance as she sees Flight Lieutenant Castle standing a couple of meters away looking at her nervously. The young woman is standing there, shifting her weight from one foot to the other and is almost wringing her hands that are entwined in front of her in further displays of her discomfort.

It is because of the woman's genuine distress and discomfort that Beckett isn't quite as brusque as she'd originally intended to be at first sight of the pilot because she has a good idea what Alexis wants to talk to her about. So it is in a rather kinder tone that she asks, "You want something, Flight Lieutenant?"

Alexis dips her head briefly before answering, "Umm, y..yes, Commander. Could I have a word with you…..in private...please?"

The pleading in Alexis' voice and expression further weakens Beckett's resolve to do what she originally intended, say no and proceed on her way using the plausible excuse that she is too busy to talk. In reality, with the repairs now complete, she now has the time to speak with the junior officer despite how much she would prefer not to. She then also remembers that it is thanks due in no small part to this woman's piloting skills that they are all still here and not just disassembled molecules floating in space so Beckett feels that she owes her the time to let her say her peace.

Beckett looks up and down the corridor they are in and then nods in acceptance before then indicating with her head towards an empty crew cabin nearby. The cabin had been right next to the hull breach in this section of the ship. While the bulkhead had held saving this cabin from decompressing, at the moment, with all the work that has taken place in the immediate vicinity the cabin remains empty. The crew members that normally bunk here not having returned to their quarters yet. Most of them are probably too busy, she thinks, with their own duties so this space remains private at the moment, a rare thing on a warship.

Once Beckett is inside the cabin she turns around to see the young redheaded officer follow her in and, after a nervous glance into the corridor outside, Alexis activates the control, shutting the door. Now in the relative privacy of the empty cabin Alexis looks down at the deck for a long moment before squaring her shoulders and looking up into Beckett's eyes.

After taking a deep, fortifying breath the young officer eventually asks, "Have you been to sickbay to see my father yet, Commander?"

Beckett immediately breaks eye contact with Alexis, turns away and looks out the small round view port at in the nearby bulkhead that is filled with a view of the planet Imir as she replies, "No. I've been too busy overseeing the repairs."

"Are you going to go see him?" Alexis presses.

"I…I don't know," answers Beckett uncertainly. She then gets some of her certainty back as she turns back around to face Alexis as she asks, "Why should I go see him and what concern is it of yours, Flight Lieutenant?"

Alexis visibly winces at the use of her rank. Beckett knows that the protocol adhering pilot would normally never dream of talking about personal issues with a superior officer which is why Beckett used it. All in an admittedly slightly cowardly attempt to shut this conversation down before it gets started.

But from the determined look that now graces Alexis' face it looks like Beckett's little gambit isn't going to work as the young woman says, "I would think, _Commander_ , that as a member of your squad, all be it a temporary one, that you would be concerned with his wellbeing just as you would for Major Esposito and Lieutenant Ryan if they were in the same position."

With the emphasis Alexis puts on her rank she gives props to the young woman for turning her own gambit back on her. Beckett decides that she isn't going to get anywhere playing rank games with Alexis in this frame of mind and so she tries a more personal tack as she asks, "How I deal with members of my team aside, why is it important to you that I go see him?"

Alexis gives her an incredulous look as she exclaims in a tone that indicates that it is the most obvious thing in the world, "Because he's hurting and he cares for you. He's worried about what you think of him now that you know everything about him."

"You mean about him being a biotic?" Beckett shoots back at her quickly letting some of her feelings of hurt and betrayal that she's kept bottled up until now show in the bite of her words.

Alexis gives a resigned sigh, "Yes, that he's a biotic. He…he's told me a little about why you don't like biotics," Alexis quickly holds ups her hands to fall stall the protest that Beckett opens her mouth to make as she continues quickly. "He's only told me that because of something you experienced in your past, that he refuses to tell me the details of, that as a result you dislike biotics. He has not betrayed your trust, I assure you, Commander."

"Yeah, lying about who and what he is isn't betraying my trust at all," Beckett shoots back sarcastically before she can stop herself.

"He didn't lie to you. In fact he was going to tell you all about it just before the ship was attacked, wasn't he?" Alexis counters back at her.

"He was going to tell me something but how do I know that he was going to tell me he's a biotic?" Beckett challenges.

"Because he told me before your 'date' that he was going to tell you," Alexis admits to her plainly. "You see, very few people know that dad is a biotic. He doesn't trust that many people enough to let them know that about him. The fact that he was going to tell you, despite your obvious negative feelings about it, just reinforce for me how much he cares about you. Hell, he could have just kept quiet and if the attack had never happened you would never have known but he wasn't going to do that. No, he respects you too much to keep that from you so he was going to tell you, despite the negative reaction that I now see he was justified in worrying about, that you'd have. As his daughter and one of the few people that does know, he shared with me that he was going to tell you. Again he wouldn't have done that if he didn't have feelings for you."

"I'm sure I would have found out if he didn't decide to tell me. He would have used his powers eventually and then I'd know. So it is no indication of how he feels about me that he was going to tell me," dismisses Beckett.

Alexis shakes her head as she says, "You're wrong, Commander. Unless it is an emergency dad doesn't use his powers. So there was no reason for him to tell you except that he didn't want you to think he was lying to you about something that means so much to you."

"I find it hard to believe that an overgrown man-child like your father wouldn't get a kick out of having 'superpowers' and not use them at every opportunity. All biotics think they are better than the rest of us just because they can do things with their minds and I'm sure Castle is the same. That ability makes them dangerous and I've never trusted them because of that," argues Beckett.

At that Alexis' eyes flash with anger as she almost yells back at Beckett, "Don't think you know my dad or what he has gone through because he is a biotic...AND don't let your past make you think all biotics are the same because they aren't. You think that because he can manipulate dark energy with his mind that everything is easy for him? Well it isn't! In fact being a biotic has caused him more pain and distress than anything else in his life so don't assume things about my dad you know nothing about."

There is a long pause after Alexis' emotional explosion as Beckett looks at her with surprise and shock not expecting at all the forcefulness of the young woman's defence of her father. Though if she is honest with herself she would be the same way if someone disparaged her own father.

Beckett stays quiet and eventually Alexis seems to calm a little and after taking another deep breath says, "Look, I probably should let dad tell you this stuff but as there's a good chance that either you won't go talk to him to hear it or that he wouldn't tell you even if you did then it leaves it me to be the one to tell you. Again I'm only telling you this because I know that before this my dad was developing real feelings for you. The first serious feelings for a woman that I've seen in him in a long time. Hell, ever since he came aboard I've seen a change in him and that change is because of you. He's writing again and he genuinely wants to help you stop these colonies from being attacked and that focus is not something I've seen in him since I left for the Academy. I partly blame myself. I know he misses me and worries about me and I worry about how aimless he became after he killed off Derrick Storm but since he's been on the ship here with you he's been better. He's been the fun and caring dad I remember before I joined the Alliance and not the frivolous playboy that I see in the tabloid vids. But before I tell you anything you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone and you won't bring it up with dad unless he brings it up first. Or are you so closed minded that you aren't willing to hear the truth and are happy to continue living with your own misconceptions?"

Beckett is taken aback by Alexis' rant and this challenge to her. While she knows that when it comes down to it that she is plainly just prejudiced against biotics she has always thought that she is justified to be so. However Beckett does also think that she is open minded and so Alexis challenging that has her wanting to agree to the woman's conditions just to prove her wrong. Also a small part of her is curious to know Castle's story so she responds, deciding to use Alexis' call sign as a way to break the tension, "Ok, Blue, I promise not to say anything and to try and hear you out and keep an open mind."

Alexis gives a sigh of relief and then says, "Alright, well I'll start at the beginning, with how my dad became a biotic. It was only a few years after the discovery of the Prothean archive on Mars and the first big expansion into the solar system enabled by the technology developed from the knowledge found there. As you may know my grandmother is an actress and at the time she was part of a touring theatre company that was putting on productions at some of the colonies that had sprung up in the solar system. One of the colonies they toured was one of the first Ezo mines on Jupiter's moon, Mimas. In those early days no one knew of the effect exposure to raw, unshielded Ezo has on unborn children in their mother's womb and my Grams, unknowingly as it was still early in her pregnancy, was pregnant with my dad when she was on Mimas."

"So because of her exposure to raw Ezo he was born a biotic?" Beckett reasons.

"Yes, but he's not a powerful one. When he was born he developed the tumours and nodes in his nervous system that enables someone to be a biotic but because this was still early and not a lot was known about biotics the doctors removed most of them. Some grew back and eventually, after more discoveries on Mars it was realised that my dad was a biotic. Again the medicine and science that is around now to help someone become a biotic didn't exist back then. So as a baby and one of the first documented biotics my dad was treated more as an oddity and a lab experiment than a person," the young redhead admits to her.

"That must have been awful for him and your grandmother," responds Beckett now with just a tinge of sympathy creeping into her mind at hearing of Castle's early life.

A look of pride graces Alexis' face as she says, "Oh it was tough for both of them, especially my Grams but she is also one of the strongest people I know. She didn't let the doctors or the scientists keep treating my dad as a freak to be studied and probed. And when it looked like they were going to try and keep dad locked away in a lab for his whole childhood to study she kicked up such a stink that in the end they had to release him back to her. As he grew up corporations, universities and some sections of the government, especially the military, kept pressuring my Grams for them to have access to dad so that they could 'study' is biotic abilities and to 'train' him. My Grams would have none of it and tried to give my dad as normal a childhood as she could. When his biotic abilities came to the fore in his early teens they increased their pressure. She still resisted but without the fitting of an amp and some training being a developing biotic can be painful and dangerous so in the end she spent every credit she had saved to get my dad implanted with one of the first gen amps, an L1. Then, luckily for both of them, she had become friends with an Asari actress some years before and she agreed to tutor my dad in how to harness his growing abilities."

"So that's when Castle learned to become a biotic?" asks Beckett who is now becoming, despite herself, more intrigued by Castle's story.

"Yes, but as I said not a powerful one. Marizzia, the Asari, was only able to teach him the basics. Just enough to allow him to control his powers so that he wouldn't be a danger to himself or others and to mitigate some of the pain he feels. Also, because of the surgeries when he was a baby, he doesn't have as much power as a lot of other biotics so using his abilities can be a strain on his system again more so than it is for other biotics. Then on top of it all the L1 implants are very crude by today's standards and it still causes him significant physical pain when he uses his powers. Combine this with the stigma that there was when my dad was a kid about being a biotic and my dad became very reluctant to use his abilities and started to hide them from the outside world. It is another reason why he was reluctant to tell you at first because of the prejudice he encountered as a kid when he was treated as a freak just for having abilities that he couldn't control and that he didn't ask for. He knows of your own attitudes towards biotics and also didn't want to be treated as negatively as he was back then by someone he has come to care about. He continues to hide what he is to this day and he never uses his abilities unless he has to so to almost everyone else he is not a biotic," Alexis tells Beckett.

"But Castle's a wealthy author now. Surely he could be implanted with the latest, upgraded amps so that he wouldn't have as much pain at least?" questions Beckett and for the moment ignoring how her attitude towards biotics must have reminded Castle of all the negative reactions he must of gotten as a young teen.

Alexis shrugs her shoulders at that, "I think because dad has hidden what he is and suppressed what he can do for so long he doesn't see the point of going through the surgeries to get the upgrades. He just wants to keep that part of him hidden away. In fact I'm sure he doesn't like being a biotic and would prefer not to be one."

There is another long pause and Beckett can feel Alexis' scrutiny as she considers the young woman's words. She can't deny that she doesn't feel for Castle after hearing about how difficult it is for him to be a biotic. Perhaps for the first time she is really considering that not all biotics want to have their abilities let alone that it is easy for them to use them. Beckett can tell that Alexis has been honest with her so she believes her when she tells her that Castle would prefer not to be a biotic. However as she has distrusted biotics for so long can she really put that aside just because before this she had been developing feelings for Castle and that he is a somewhat reluctant one at that?

She is broken from her thoughts as Alexis asks, "So, I'll ask again. Will you go and see my dad in sickbay?"

With sincerity Beckett responds, "I'll try, Blue. You've given me a lot to think about. He did save my life so I owe him a chance for him to tell me this himself at least. So for now let me think some more and I'll really try to go and see him when I'm not so busy."

Alexis looks into her eyes clearly studying the honesty of her words before nodding her head and saying, "Ok, I suppose that's all I can ask. Thanks for listening, Commander. I better let you get back to your duties."

With that the young pilot gives her a final nod of thanks, turns, presses the control to open the door to the cabin and leaves. Beckett watches her go and contemplates Alexis' words as she follows her out of the cabin and towards CIC to go and report the current state of the repairs to the Captain.

Beckett continues to think over Alexis' words over the next few hours and gradually comes to the conclusion that she should go and see Castle. Therefore as soon as Captain Montgomery tells her to take a break she soon finds herself stepping through the double doors into the ship's sickbay. Upon entering she sees that every bed in the place is full of injured crew members. Some of them are asleep or unconscious while a few are awake with a couple of them groaning in discomfort and pain. Amongst the beds every member of the _New York's_ crew with any medical training are moving about tending to those lying there.

The noise of the double doors closing behind her has attracted the attention of Laine as she stands at the end of one of the nearby beds. She is looking at Beckett, data pad in hand and was clearly studying the readouts displayed on it about the injured crew woman in the bed in front of her before Beckett arrived. As Beckett stays standing in the doorway Laine places the data pad on its holder on the end of the patient's bed and walks over to her.

"Hey, sweetie, what are you doing here?" Laine asks in a slightly hushed voice as with the reduced lighting in sickbay at the moment and the number of sleeping crewmembers nearby she obviously doesn't want to disturb them.

Now that she is here Beckett's resolve has crumbled and she has a sudden desire to turn back around and walk straight out again. However she remembers she is no coward but still she responds with a bit of a white lie as she says, "Oh, I just wanted a casualty report and see for myself how they are all doing."

Laine fixes her with a knowing look as she responds, "How they _all_ are doing, huh. Or perhaps you are here to see a certain writer in the bed down at the end there." The doctor indicates with her head to a bed at the far end of the room.

Beckett rolls her eyes, "Laine, as XO, crew welfare is one of my primary responsibilities so of course I'm concerned about everyone that was injured and not just one person."

"Uh, huh, but I seem to remember sending an updated casualty report to your Omni-tool not more than an half an hour ago so you know as much as about the condition of everyone here as I do. So while you might still come down here to see for yourself we both know that the real reason why you are here," Laine challenges her. "He's been asking about you, you know," Lanie then tells her after a brief pause.

"Asking what about me?" Beckett asks now that it is clear that her friend won't let this go.

"Oh, just if you are ok and if you were hurt at all during the battle…..You should go speak to him," Laine prods her lightly with an elbow to the ribs as she says it.

"How is he?" Beckett asks as a way of delaying the encounter for just a little longer.

"He's fine now. I was about to kick him out soon as it is. He was unconscious for over a day. We had to flood his system with electrolytes and other nutritional supplements to replace what he lost generating that biotic barrier. He was in considerable pain from his implants when he regained consciousness so I had to give him some strong pain meds to counteract that. The pain has subsided now and he's regained his strength so now that he's through the worst I was going to discharge him back to his quarters," Laine explains to her.

"You did his physical when he came aboard, Lane. You knew what he is. Why didn't you tell me he is a biotic? As the XO of this ship and not to mention your friend I had a right to know that someone on my team is a biotic. Not to mention you know how I feel about them," Beckett now challenges her friend as another way of delaying the coming encounter.

Laine gives her an incredulous look as she replies, "Well for a start doctor patient confidentiality meant that I couldn't tell you. And before you start again on your having a right to know because he is on your squad for your information, because they are old friends, the Captain knows Castle is a biotic and ordered me not to tell anyone, even you. I figured that if the Captain knows then it wasn't my place, not to mention against orders, to tell you."

There is another pause before Lanie says sympathetically, "Look, Kate, I know that you have issues with biotics but not all of them are the evil monsters you think they are and that man down there is definitely not one either. Give the guy a chance and go speak to him. Medically speaking I think if you two can talk to each other and clear the air then it will do you both a world of good."

"Doctor Parish, Lieutenant Commander Morrison's regaining consciousness," interrupts the voice of Nurse Chang from a few beds away.

"Coming, Chang," calls Laine. She then turns back to Beckett and says, "Go talk to him, Kate."

With that her friend walks away and over to the bed where Nurse Chang is waiting. Beckett watches her friend leave for a moment before squaring her shoulders and striding further into the room towards the bed Lanie had indicated. There she finds Castle with his eyes closed, his large frame covered partly by a bed sheet and clothed in a pale blue patient's smock and lying propped up as the head of the bed has been angled upwards.

As she stops at the end of his bed he must sense her presence because his eyes open and fix on hers as he says in a tired, husky voice, "Beckett, hey, you came."

"Yeah, I'm here, Castle," responds Beckett quietly, one hand reaching out to play nervously with the rail at the end of his bed. "So, huh, how are you feeling?"

"Oh, I'm fine now. After the tender care of Doctor Parish and her team I'm right as reign. In fact I feel guilty taking up one of these beds while there are so many others that are injured so I was going to ask her to let me go back to my quarters," Castle tells her.

Beckett nods quickly and seeing an out says, "Oh, ok, well I better leave and let you go. I just wanted to see that you were alright so….."

"Kate!" Castle interrupts her and then looks nervously at her as he says, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was a biotic but you've got to believe me that I was going to tell you just before this all happened."

Having taken a half step back in preparation to leave she stops dead at Castle's words and can't help but respond to the look of sincerity and a little fear that is on his face. Her warring emotions soften a bit at the distress he is projecting and she can only think he is rightly worried at how she is reacting to him being a biotic.

"I…I kinda figured that out, Castle," Beckett admits to him.

A look of relief comes across his face at her words only to be quickly replaced by worry as he asks tentatively, "And what do you think about what I am?"

"I'll be honest with you, Castle, I'm still not sure what to think. You've got to understand that what someone like you did to my family has been a part of who I am for a long time now. In a way it has driven me to be the person I am today and I can't just turn off those feelings just like that," Beckett tells him frankly.

She feels sympathy for him again as his face falls at her words and gives him further credit as he looks around at the nearby beds evidently concerned that they are not overheard as he says quietly, "But you've got to know that I'm not like the person that did that to your mother. There are good and bad people that are biotics just like there are good and bad people that aren't biotics. Just because someone has these abilities doesn't mean that they are automatically a heartless killer. I would think that you would have figured out by now that I take no pleasure in killing someone in battle, just like you."

Beckett takes a moment to gather her thoughts before answering, "Yeah, I guess I get that. It's still a lot for me to process at the moment and a lot of my past to get through before I can tell you for sure how I feel about this. That said I won't deny that I feel something for you Castle and even this has not totally eliminated those feelings so all I ask is that you give me a little time to think this through. After that I promise to tell you what I feel and where I think we can go from here."

"I'll give you all the time you need, Kate. But, so we're clear, you do think there's still a chance we can move past this?" Castle asks her hopefully, picking up on the last of what she said.

Beckett dips her head in slight acknowledgment as she answers, "Possibly, Castle. If you'd asked me before I met you whether or not something like this would be a deal breaker then I'd immediately have said yes. But now, having gotten to know you, I've kind of gotten used to you being in my life even if it was just to pull my pigtails at first. So I'll just say that at the moment I have a lot to think about and I ask that you have patience while I do."

A small understanding and hopeful smile appears on Castle's face as he says, "Of course, Kate. I'm not going anywhere."

* * *

 _A/N: So Kate has been made to see some sense after a talking to by Alexis. More talks between Kate and Rick to come. As I've said the goal here is for them to be together so this was never going to be something that would keep them apart._

 _Now, the show…I'll admit that I lost my motivation to sit down and write with all the negativity I'm feeling about the show at the moment. While I thought that there was a chance that Stana Katic might be wanting to leave the show the fact that she's been let go so unceremoniously seems to me to show an unacceptable lack of respect for her and for the fans._ _Almost everything I see online says that fans are not going to watch any possible season 9 without her and I can't blame them. I'm not sure I will either. Getting rid of the Beckett character, which has driven so many of the stories over the last eight years seems to be extremely short sighted. Not to mention that we've invested all this time in the love story that is Caskett only for it to be unceremoniously thrown aside like this sort of makes the last eight years of watching them getting together feel like a waste of time. Before all this I wanted a season 9 but now I think it should just end and give us the happy ending that most of us want._

 _For me Castle isn't Game of Thrones where GRR Martin clearly states that he is not interested in happy endings. For years we have watched Rick and Kate get together and there seemed to be an implied promise, given the inherent lightness of the show, that in the end they would be together as well. What is happening now is destroying that promise. While it is possible for them to continue to make the show without her (anything is possible in a TV writers room it just might not be plausible) it definitely won't be the same show and I'm not sure it is a show I will want to watch._

 _Then add the dumping of Tamala Jones as well and the loss of another strong female character starts to give a regrettable look of misogyny to this whole affair. All in all it just make me sad that this show that was my favourite and had inspired me to get back into writing has been reduced to this mess._

 _This is just my opinion that I wanted to get off my chest and everyone is entitled to their own if they don't agree with it._

 _That all said once I did sit down to write this chapter I found that I was able to lose myself in this AU world I've created and forget, for a little while, the turmoil that is happening in the real world of the canon show. So do not fear, I will continue this story if for no other reason to try and give us all some small distraction from the disaster that Castle has become._


	13. Chapter 13

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or Mass Effect_

* * *

 _SSV New York – in transit_

Castle sits in the conference/briefing room of the cruiser and tries not to self-consciously look around the hollow, metal, oblong table at the others seated around it. He can't deny to himself that he is worried how the other members of the crew see him now. Now that they know that he is a biotic.

A part of him knows he is being paranoid but as he sits here he can't help but wonder what the others that are in the room think about him now that they know his mostly deeply hidden secret. As he makes a quick glance across the table to where Ryan and Esposito are sitting he thinks that at least he knows that those two seemed to have accepted the news of his hidden abilities.

After being discharged from sickbay he'd run into the two Marines in the mess at lunch that day and he'd been apprehensive about their reaction to him being a biotic and keeping that fact from them. His apprehension had soon been alleviated however as the as the two men had seemingly brushed aside the fact that he'd kept the secret and had even made light of the situation.

Castle had tried starting off by apologising for not telling them he is a biotic but they'd both waved off his apology in a typically gruff male manner, obviously uncomfortable discussing 'feelings' with him. Esposito had made a comment though that his evading of the Batarians at Williamstown made a lot more sense now but initially both men seemed like they didn't want to go into the details on why he kept the secret from them. That hadn't made him feel any better about how he thought they think about him but their actions for the rest of the lunch soon did.

Ryan had started it by asking Castle to pass the salt not using his hands but with his mind. Then Esposito had asked him to get him a piece of fruit from the nearby buffet but again not by going to get it but by levitating it over to him with his biotics. The rest of the lunch was then filled with cheeky requests from the two men as they asked him to 'do stuff' with his powers. Given how long he's hidden what he is he was surprisingly happy to go along with their banter though he shot down all their requests to demonstrate what he can do sighting that he was still recovering from the last time he used his abilities.

By the end of the lunch he had been left with the distinct impression that the two men, even the tough and sometimes critical Esposito, accept that he is a biotic and that he had kept that from them until now. To be so accepted by two such men had gone some way to making him feel better about being 'outed' as a biotic. Not completely, of course, as he still catches himself wondering now how each person he interacts with thinks of him now that they know his secret. Wondering if they see him as some freak or threat that is going to start ripping the ship around them apart with his mind. Then there is Beckett.

It's barely been a day since their talk in the sickbay and he wasn't lying to her when he said he would give her time to sort through her own feelings about him being a biotic. However he can't help but try and read as much as he can into every one of the few interactions they've had since then to try and determine how she really feels about him now. Even to the point that now, as he sits in the conference room waiting with everyone else for the Captain's briefing to start, he can't help but look around for Beckett. With her not having joined them yet he can't also now not help but wonder about where she'll sit when she does arrive and what that will mean. Will she sit in the empty chair next to him or will she sit at one of the other empty chairs around the table? What will the significance of it be if she does sit next to him? If she doesn't and how far she does sit from him be an indication that she doesn't like or trust him anymore?

Castle shakes his head as these paranoid thoughts race around his head. He can't keep thinking like this otherwise no matter what Beckett does he'll read far too much into it and it will end up colouring how he interacts with her and that will only make things worse. In the end he may drive her away not by being a biotic but by being an insecure, paranoid idiot that can't give her the time she needs to sort through her own deeply held feelings about biotics. Then again he can't help but be this way because in his mind how Beckett feels about him will have a real effect on his immediate future. A future where he could, depending on how she feels about him now, be either staying on board the _New York_ with a chance of developing a deeper relationship with the beautiful Commander or he could be packing his bags and saying goodbye to her and everyone on the ship. He hopes for the former because there is no way he is staying aboard if Beckett rejects him because of what he is.

Almost as if the universe knows what he is thinking, at that moment the double doors to the conference room slide open and Beckett strides in. She pauses briefly in the doorway to survey the room and those seated there before walking in his direction. Castle can't help the feeling of relief that bubbles up inside him as she sits down into the seat next to him giving him a brief acknowledging nod as she does so. Again he tries not to read anything into the fact that she doesn't give him more than a nod. No 'Hi', no smile, just a quick catch of his eye and a dip of her head. Given the worst case scenarios bounding around in his writer's brain just the fact that she's sitting next to him and didn't completely ignore him seems like a win to him.

Further anxious introspection is stalled as the doors open again and this time Captain Montgomery strides into the room with Yeoman Ellis close behind him. The few muted conversations that were taking place in the room come to a halt as the balding, moustachioed Captain takes his seat at the head of the table and Yeoman Ellis takes the empty seat to his right.

Montgomery's gaze sweeps those seated around the table before stopping to rest on the woman seated next to Castle as she says, "Ok, people, let's start with an updated damage report. XO?" he ends questioningly at Beckett.

"Right, sir," responds Beckett quickly who then continues indicating her head to the pudgy, balding man a few seats down the table from her. "Chief Engineer Perlmutter and I have completed a survey of the four hull breaches and our patches are holding. Sixty percent of the power conduits, data lines and other infrastructure that were damaged during the attack have been repaired. The rest will have to wait until we are able to dock the ship and fully repair the hull. Comms are unaffected. I'll leave the other department heads here to give more details on their particular areas but while the ship and crew has taken a beating overall we are in good shape and ready for anything if the enemy turns up again."

Montgomery nods thoughtfully and then asks the man that Beckett had just referenced, "How's the ship holding up specifically, Chief? Any residual damage to the Ezo core caused by the battle that we have to worry about?"

The man in question sits a little bit more forward in his seat as he answers in the slightly querulous tone that Castle has come to expect from the man, "No, Captain. The core was unaffected by the battle due in no small part to the extra preventative measures I myself implemented that are in no way part of standard Alliance procedure. We only lost power due to the damage caused to so many of the power transfer nodes and conduits at the same time. With the repairs that my crew has been able to complete already we will be able to maintain full power until we dock the ship. As for the rest of the ships' systems, we are currently running at seventy-eight percent of efficiency across the board due to battle damage but that is increasing as repairs continue. By the time we dock the ship we should be at ninety percent. The sub-light engines suffered some minor damage that while it won't impair their function do require the ship to be docked for us to repair them fully. As for the Asari drive I'll leave the reporting on that to the lovely Matron Mazia, of course."

Castle can sense the slight unease the smarminess of Perlmutter's report has caused those around the table not to mention the sickly creepiness of his attempted charm as he refers to one of the two Asari seated at across the table from him.

Obviously the Captain isn't fooled as he says, "Thank you, Chief, I must remember to give a commendation to Flight Lieutenant Castle for coming up with those surge dampeners of hers. I understand they saved the core from being subjected to a potentially catastrophic back surge when the nodes were hit." As Perlmutter's mouth gapes open like a stranded fish at the Captain giving the real credit for the lack of damage to the core, Montgomery turns to the beautiful blue alien that the Engineer just tried to use his charm on and asks, "Matron Mazia, any damage to the FTL and Mass Relay Interface drive?"

The Asari, who in Castle's estimation, has probably staved off the attentions of hundreds of delusional would-be suitors like Perlmutter in her over six hundred years of life, ignores the man seated across from her and smoothly addresses the Captain's question, "Like the sub-light engines our drive did suffer some damage when the alien probes impacted the ship but it is still fully functional. Again like the sub-lights, what repairs that are needed can be completed when we dock the ship."

"What's the current state of our casualties, Doctor?" Montgomery now asks Laine who is seated in the chair next to him on his immediate left.

Laine briefly consults the data pad on the table in front of her before answering, "At this time I still have eleven crewmembers in sickbay, four of whose injuries are so severe that they will require hospitalisation when we dock. Of those Chief Petty Officer Amos is the most critical. We have him stabilized for now but if he doesn't get to a better equipped medical facility than my sickbay in the next forty-eight hours we'll lose him. The rest of the injured will be up and around in the next few days. As for the others that sustained injuries during the battle all have returned to duty with a few of them on restrictions until their injuries fully heal and I've sent a report to the relevant supervisors to inform them."

"Thank you, Doctor," says Montgomery nodding again at the news and then he turns to the black haired, goatee sporting Asian man seated next to the Asari, Lattia, as he asks, "What's the status of the weapons and defensive systems, Guns?"

Lieutenant Commander Wan, the ship's Gunnery Officer, responds, "Two GARDIAN emplacements on the port side are still down but all others that were damaged are repaired. I just don't have the spares left to bring the remaining two back on-line. One of the forward missile tubes is down where it intersects with one of the breaches so that won't be back up and running until the breach is fully repaired. Six kinetic shield emitters are also still down but there is sufficient redundancy with the other emitters that we are still able to generate shields at one hundred percent. The rest of our systems, including the Thanix are still fully operational and ready to give hell if anyone tries to attack the ship again."

Turning to the small, close cut, red headed woman seated on the other side of Beckett, Montgomery asks, "What about the flight deck, SFO?"

The Senior Flight Officer, Flight Major Anne 'Raptor' Velasquez answers confidently, "All fighters and shuttles five by five, Captain. The slight damage that Red Two and Red Four suffered during the battle has already been put right by Chief Kaleski and his crew of deck monkeys. Just give the word and my pilots and I are ready and able to hit space again."

There is a pause as the Captain and everyone else in the room takes in the current status of the ship. Then Montgomery says, "I want to thank you all and indeed the entire crew for all the hard work everyone has put in to get us back flying again and in fighting shape. Please pass on my thanks to those in your departments as well," he then looks at Beckett, "XO, I want a memorial service for our lost shipmates on the flight deck at 1700hrs."

"Yes, sir," nods Beckett solemnly.

"Now, I've been in contact with Alliance Command and it will come as no surprise to you all that they concur with our assessment that the distress call luring us to Imir was a trap with the intention of destroying this ship and putting a stop to our mission. While it might be seen as a good thing that we were both able to fight them off and that they see us as such a threat Command is concerned that this enemy seems to have a lot better intelligence on us and our movements than we do. Frankly I am as well," Montgomery admits to them.

"Yeah, so much for Alliance Central Intelligence. With all the help they've been on this mission they should just drop the _Intelligence_ from their name," comments Esposito sarcastically from his seat.

Ignoring the comment from the Marine, Montgomery continues, "While we were engaged the other distress call turned out not to be fake. The colony on Horizon was attacked by a ship of the same configuration as attacked us so we now know there is more than one of these ships but that is not all we've learned. Fortunately for Horizon an Alliance goodwill mission to install new ground based defence batteries, run by an Operations Chief Williams, was there at the time of the attack. The batteries weren't operational when the enemy first arrived but with the help of a squad from a friendly mercenary frigate, that answered their distress call, Chief Williams was able to bring the batteries on-line and force the enemy to retreat. A third of the population of the colony was still abducted but at least not all of them were taken. More importantly Chief Williams saw these aliens up close and confirmed what Castle here saw at Williamstown. Also, thanks to some information supplied by the mercenaries that came to the rescue of Horizon we finally know who we are dealing with…..the Collectors."

"The Collectors?" Castle exclaims as the others around the room make similar noises of surprise at this revelation.

No one knows anything much about the Collectors. They are an extremely rarely seen enigmatic and advanced alien race that have their home somewhere beyond the Omega 4 Relay in the Terminus Systems. So rarely seen that it many consider them a myth. It isn't a surprise to Castle that he didn't recognise the biped insects he saw at Williamstown as being Collectors because he'd never seen one himself and had only ever read some vague references to them that did not include a description.

The one thing he has read about them is that when they were seen they tended to engage in some very strange and troubling trade. For samples of their technology they would often request to trade living beings in odd numbers and varieties. Requests for a single Krogan born on their home world, Tuchanka, or a dozen Salarians all with brown skin pigment were just a couple of the disturbing requests the Collectors would make in exchange for their technology. The fact that they seemed to be deliberately acquiring different biological specimens is what earned them their name. Unfortunately there are more than enough self-serving people in the galaxy that the Collectors are easily able to find those willing to procure living beings for such exchanges. Once their trade is done the Collectors would then disappear back through the Omega 4 Relay just as quickly and unexpectedly as they arrived. All attempts to send ships or probes through the Relay to follow them have been unsuccessful. Nothing, beside the Collectors, that has travelled through the Omega 4 Relay has ever returned.

"Does Command think these abductions are an escalation of their acquisition of living creatures but now they need so many that they have forgotten all about trading and are now just kidnapping them instead?" asks Beckett once the consternation around the table has died down.

"They do, Beckett," responds Montgomery. "That and their attack on us is a much more aggressive stance than has ever been seen from the Collectors before. With the Alliance knowing so little about them and their technology Command has decided to call us in for a thorough debriefing and consultation on proposed strategies on how to deal with them. To that end we have been ordered to head to the Citadel as some of the Council races have more experience with the Collectors than us. I've already passed the change in destination to Blue and she estimates we will be there in fifteen hours. Once there our wounded can be transferred to the hospitals on the station and repairs can be completed. We will also be meeting with Alliance and Council representatives with intelligence on the Collectors so that we can formulate a plan of attack."

Montgomery pauses while everyone around the table digests the change in orders before ordering, "Commander Beckett, Mister Castle remain for a moment. The rest of you are dismissed."

Castle waits with Beckett as everyone files out of the conference room. As the double doors close on the Lanie, who is the last one to leave, Castle looks with expectation at Montgomery hoping he'll explain why he's asked him and Beckett to stay behind.

"Before I start, how are you feeling, Rick?" asks Montgomery looking kindly at Castle.

Castle waves off his friend's concern as he responds, "I'm fine, Roy. I'm more concerned about this news of the Collectors and why you've asked Beckett and I to stay?"

"On that, what I'm about to tell you both is highly secret and cannot be shared with anyone outside this room," says Montgomery. "What I didn't tell the others is something that Command is trying to keep under wraps for as long as they can. The mercenary ship that came to Horizon's rescue…it was a Cerberus ship."

"Cerberus!" exclaim both he and Beckett simultaneously. He glances at Beckett and she at him and Castle can't detect any enmity in her look as they share a moment of being so in sync.

Montgomery draws them back from their gazing at each other as he continues, "Yes, Cerberus. Obviously the Alliance doesn't want to admit that what is officially considered a terrorist organisation was responsible for helping to save Horizon so they are going with the friendly mercenaries line for the moment. However, they did help save the colony and they also provided intel to Chief Williams that not only identified the Collectors but also might help counteract the technology they are using to abduct the colonists. When we get to the Citadel one of the Alliance reps we will meet with is an expert on Cerberus and they will debrief us on what they gave Williams."

"Sir, I get why you are telling me this, as XO I have a right to know. However, no disrespect to Castle, but why are you telling him, a civilian, as well?" asks Beckett curiously.

Montgomery fixes Castle with a significant look and a feeling of foreboding materialises in the pit of his stomach as a suspicion of what Montgomery is about to say starts to form in his mind. Just when he thought Beckett had learned all his secrets he now realises that she is about to learn yet another one about him. He just hopes she'll take this one better than she has her learning he's a biotic.

"He's here because Castle has a history with Cerberus that we both happen share," Montgomery tells her but before she can question this statement he quickly asks, casually, to throw her off, "Has Castle ever told you how he and I met, Beckett?"

She is indeed thrown off by the sudden question as Beckett shakes her head, her ponytail of chestnut hair swinging behind her, "Uh, no sir. He hasn't."

To his credit Montgomery turns to Castle and asks, "Are you OK with me telling her, Rick?"

Thinking that she might as well know everything, Castle shrugs his shoulders and tells him, "Sure, Roy, she should know but this is classified information I don't want you getting in trouble for telling her this."

Ignoring Beckett looking back and forth between them with even more curiosity at the mention of _classified information_ Montgomery is the one to shrug his shoulders this time as he says, "I think this comes under the requirement that she 'needs to know' so don't worry about that. Not to mention Beckett's security clearance is second only to mine on the ship so I'm not breaking any rules telling her this…. Ok then. Well it was about ten years ago. I was on assignment with Spec Ops in the Attican Traverse. We were tasked with assisting Alliance Central Intelligence in tracking down a Cerberus cell that was engaging in some nasty biological experiments on some outlying colonies. They were deliberately infecting innocent colonists with some sort of pathogen that would alter their DNA and cause them to transform into some kind of human plant hybrid. Those that didn't immediately die on infection that is which was most of them. Anyway, I was leading a pair of squads on a raid of one of the cell's bases and a pair of ACI operatives were assigned to accompany us. One of the ACI operatives on that raid was one Richard Castle."

Beckett obviously can't hold in her surprise at such information as she exclaims, "Castle!? An ACI spy? You've got to be kidding me, sir?"

Castle decides to step in at this point to make sure there is no misunderstanding, "I wasn't a _spy_ , Beckett. Back then I had been granted access to the ACI to observe their operations and to shadow some of their agents as research for Derrick Storm. Like with you and your squad I was actually able to help them with a couple of cases so that by the time Roy and I met I was allowed to shadow one of their agents into the field. Being a biotic didn't hurt for once either as they thought I'd be able to look after myself. Of course I didn't see until sometime later that it was really because of my abilities that they allowed me access to the ACI at all. It was all some kind of back door attempt at recruiting me because of my powers."

"Anyway, to cut a long story short, the raid was a clusterfuck," continues Montgomery. "There were way more Cerberus commandos at the base than intel led us to believe. My squads were able to set the demo charges to blow the place to hell but we were in danger of being overrun before we could evac safely. I was just about to detonate the charges so that the mission wouldn't be a total failure, killing us all, when Rick here came in and saved us. He used a biotic wave that pushed all the Cerberus troops back giving my squads the time they needed to pull out. Like when he saved you and those other crewmembers during the battle he collapsed as soon as we were safe. We got him out and then blew the place. After that I made a point of getting to know the man that had put himself through so much pain to save myself and my people. We've been friends ever since."

Again Castle shrugs his shoulders as he tries to play down the heroics Montgomery is describing, "I had to do something. Besides, it was partly because of the intel that I and the agent I was shadowing at the time provided to Roy and his squads that they were in that mess in the first place so I had to try and help."

He looks cautiously at Beckett, trying to gauge her reaction to yet another secret about him. She looks back at him thoughtfully for a moment before saying, "I suppose get that due to security regulations you weren't able to tell me this, Castle, and it does help to explain how you've been able handle yourself in the field with us so well. More so than a rich writer should be able to handle himself that's for sure. I guess I'm just surprised that you have this in your past. It is not something I would have expected."

"Like being a biotic, not many people know. Roy only knows because he was there. Not even Alexis knows the exact extent of my research with the ACI. She just thinks that I sat in an office and looked at some holo-screens of old case files for a few months. She has no idea I was in the field and ACI made me sign all these secrecy agreements when I left to ensure I wouldn't talk about my experiences with them. That and they wanted to make sure that whatever I used in my books was non-specific. I was definitely forbidden from using any real life events I encountered while with them when writing Derrick," Castle tells her honestly.

As Beckett continues to consider his words Montgomery chimes in with, "Besides the mission against Cerberus where we met there's another reason why I asked Castle to be here to tell him about their involvement at Horizon."

Shaking her head, plainly to clear her thoughts, Beckett asks, "What's that, sir?"

Roy now gives Castle an apologetic look as he says, "To warn him that the Alliance representative we are meeting with on the Citadel and that is an expert on Cerberus is Castle's old partner from that raid. ACI Agent Sophia Turner."

* * *

 _A/N: So time for Sophia to reappear in this story. How will she interact with Castle and Becket? How will Beckett react to this woman from Castle's past? All questions to be answered in the next chapter._

 _Thank you all for reading._

 _Regardless what is decided by ABC soon about the future of the show I hope you join me in wishing Stana Katic and Tamala Jones well and in saying goodbye to the show that we all knew for the last eight seasons (some might say the last seven). If the show does continue it will definitely not be the same and I for one probably won't be there to see what it does become because my interest in such a show is close to nil._


	14. Chapter 14

_Disclaimer: I have no ownership of Castle or Mass Effect_

* * *

 _SSV New York - Serpent Nebula, Council Space_

Castle stands on the flying bridge of the ship, just behind his daughter's pilot's chair and watches with a little awe and a lot of pride as her slender fingers dance over the holographic controls suspended in the air in front of her. He then looks up and out of the large viewport in front of them both at the swirling, glowing purple gases of the nebula around them as the ship travels the last part of the distance from the Citadel's Mass Relay to the station itself.

"You know, dad, with you standing there watching me work I kind of get where Commander Beckett is coming from when she says you watching her all the time is creepy," says Alexis taking a brief glance over her shoulder at him.

Castle flashes her a smile as he shrugs his shoulders, "What can I say, I like to watch my daughter do that which she is so good at. The thing that saved everyone on this ship, including your dear old dad, I might add. And as for Beckett, I think she'd gotten used to me 'observing' her as part of my research for my new character….whether she'll continue to let me is still up in the air however," he mutters the last bit as he contemplates the current uncertainty of his relationship with the stunning Commander.

While he muttered the last bit Alexis clearly heard him as she asks sympathetically, "How are things between you and Commander Beckett, Dad?"

Before he answers Castle spares a look at the other crew members at their posts around them, particularly the young blond woman in the co-pilot's seat next to Alexis. To keep both his and Beckett's privacy he drops his voice a little as he says, "Well, their no worse and she seems not to have decided to have absolutely nothing to do with me but there is still some work ahead if I'm to earn back her trust. To that end I have a plan to help me with that when we are on the Citadel." He says that last bit with as much confidence as he can muster.

Alexis takes another look up at him over her shoulder and eyes him sceptically before saying, "A plan, huh. Well I hope it goes better than your plan to deep fry that turkey during our last Thanksgiving together." She pauses for a moment and then with a more sympathetic voice continues, "Just be careful, Dad. Commander Beckett is unlikely to be impressed by some grand and expensive gesture. My advice is to keep it simple and try to be yourself. Not too much of yourself of course otherwise you're sure to screw this up." She then ends cheekily.

"Ha Ha, daughter of mine. Thanks for your vote of confidence in your old man," Castle responds back with a mock aggrieved tone in his voice. "But seriously, have faith. I know a serious woman like Beckett isn't going to be impressed by being wined and dined at the best restaurants on the Citadel. Not that she doesn't deserve to have such lavishness heaped upon her. No, I'm confident that what I've come up with is exactly the thing that she'll like and that will hopefully get us closer to back to where we were before she found out I'm a biotic."

"Well I guess we'll find out if you're right soon enough….we're here," says Alexis indicting with her head towards the forward viewport.

He looks up and through the thinning gases of the nebula he can see the massive space station that is the Citadel come into view. The gigantic, Prothean built station, consists of a large central ring, a little over seven kilometres in diameter, with five arms that protrude at equally distant points from the ring. The arms are just over forty-three kilometres long and almost half a kilometre thick. In times of danger the arms can close making the station into a long cylinder with an impenetrable outer shell. With the arms slightly open as they are now the station looks like a giant flower with long thin petals just in the process of opening fully for the light of the nearby star at the heart of the nebula.

Along the inside of the arms, or 'Wards', are countless skyscrapers and it is along these arms that the vast majority of the population of over thirteen million beings live and work. The central ring, or 'Presidium', houses the seat of the Citadel Council and the various branches of the galactic government in the many office buildings built alongside the large artificial parks and lake that cover the interior of the ring.

With a deft manipulation of the controls in front of her, Alexis manoeuvres the ship past several Asari, Turian and Human warships, including the massive Asari dreadnought the _Destiny Ascension_ that make up the Citadel Fleet. As they rapidly approach the station it grows larger in the viewport and Castle hears two sets of footsteps behind him.

He turns and sees both Captain Montgomery and Beckett entering the flying bridge clearly to observe the final approach to the station from here. This is the best vantage point on the ship situated as it is at the top of the hull in the short conning tower, two thirds of the way along from the nose of the cruiser.

After giving them both a nod and a smile, receiving the same in return from both of them, including an unexpected and hopeful, for him, small smile from Beckett, he turns back to the view of the ever expanding sight of the Citadel before them. With confidence Alexis steers them towards the gap in the massive arms and towards the ring of the Presidium.

Then over the comms comes an all business sounding female voice asking, " _Alliance warship, this is Citadel control. Please state your identity and intention?"_

As these words are said Castle can't help but notice a couple of the surrounding Citadel fleet have not so subtly orientated themselves towards the _New York_ with some of them also moving into position between them and the Citadel.

Montgomery steps closer to Alexis' pilot's chair and Castle takes a step back to allow him his rightful position of command. His step back coincidentally has him standing right next to Beckett and he gives her another hopeful look and smile and again she returns it but he can still see the caution in her eyes as she does so.

"Citadel control, this is SSV New York SR12, we have clearance from Systems Alliance Command to dock at the Presidium shipyards for repairs and to conduct mission briefings," responds Montgomery to the unseen controller.

There is a long pause and the nearest Turian dreadnought that has placed itself between them and the Citadel is growing larger in the viewport before the voice returns saying, " _Identity and clearance confirmed, New York. Please proceed to repair dock eight. I'm informed that you will be taken to meet with Alliance and Council representatives upon your arrival."_

"Thank you, Citadel control, we will proceed as instructed. _New York_ out," replies Montgomery. He then says to Alexis, "You heard her, Blue. Take us in."

"Aye, Captain," responds Alexis and hers and her co-pilot's hands dance over the holographic controls.

The view of the Turian warship in front of them shifts as it seemingly slips down and to the left and both the _New York_ and the Council ship manoeuvre around each other. They move past the ring of Council warships and into the busy traffic of freighters, transports and other civilian ships that fill the space between the outstretched arms of the station.

Montgomery then turns around to face him and Beckett and says, "I want both of you with me to meet these representatives after we dock."

"Yes, sir," responds Beckett crisply and Castle looks at her again but this time she ignores his look and keeps looking straight ahead at her Captain.

Trying not to read anything into that he turns his attention back to Montgomery as the man says, "Well, you and I better get changed, Beckett. Regulations require dress uniforms for officers on official business at the Presidium." He then addresses Castle directly, "You might want to get out your best suit as well, Rick. We wouldn't want to give these _representatives_ the wrong impression."

"Of course not, Roy. I wouldn't dream of it," Castle responds with just a hint of tongue in cheek as he mildly teases his old friend.

Montgomery gives him a mildly sceptical yet playful look as he responds, "Uh, huh, of course you wouldn't."

And with that hanging in the air Montgomery walks past them both and off the bridge through the hatch at the rear. Beckett turns and takes a couple of steps to follow but Castle quickly takes a few steps to catch up with her and says, "Uh, Beckett, can I ask you something?"

Beckett stops just before the exit to the bridge and he observes her shoulders rise and fall as she sighs with what he hopes isn't resignation. She then turns and faces him and asks, "What do want to ask, Castle?"

The words on Castle's lips dry up for a second as he takes in the pained yet curious expression on Beckett's face as she regards him. He pulls himself together quickly, however as he asks carefully, "Umm, I was wondering whether, after we've met with these representatives, if you will have any free time while we are docked at the Citadel?"

He watches Beckett's eyes as they drop from his and she replies quietly and, for him, surprising candour, "I don't think so. I've got to assist the Chief Engineer in overseeing the repairs to the ship."

Castle takes a step closer to her and is encouraged when she doesn't step back as he asks and in his mind in no way pleads, "Beckett, surely you can leave the repairs to Perlmutter for a few hours. You deserve a break and I….I want a chance for us to reconnect and have some fun with you while we are here."

The pained look intensifies on her face as she asks him in a hushed voice, "I thought you were going to give me time to think, Castle?"

He holds up his hands in a gesture both in surrender and to placate her, "I am, Kate. I don't want to push but I honestly do think you need a break, a chance to relax. You work so hard and I think you deserve a moment to let your hair down. I just know the place on the Citadel that will allow you to have that break and relax and I want to show it to you. No pressure, but even as a friend and not just someone who also hopes for something more between us I want to do this for you…for us."

She contemplates him for a long moment, biting her bottom lip in that, to him, maddeningly sexy way of hers as she considers his proposal before she responds with a less than encouraging resigned sigh, "I suppose I could spare a couple of hours for some R&R. But just so we're clear, there are to be no expectations on this resulting in anything more between us, as you put it. That said I won't deny that I could use some fun. Just don't expect anything from me at the end, Castle. I've still got to decide how I feel about you."

"Of course, Kate. Just know that I'm open to whatever you decide," Castle says sincerely.

"Alright, well I better go get changed as the Captain said. Once we've finished the briefings with these representatives I'll check the repair schedule and get back to you on when I'm available," says Beckett still quietly but with a return of the briskness of earlier.

"Thank you, Kate. I'll wait to hear from you then," responds Castle hopefully.

Beckett then turns and leaves the bridge and Castle watches her go hoping that she makes good on what she says and is able to find the time available to spend with him. She needs it. He needs it. They both need it.

* * *

 _Repair Dock 8 – The Citadel_

As she stands outside the _New York's_ main airlock, Beckett pulls at the front of her navy blue with gold lace trim dress uniform in an attempt to make the seldom worn attire to sit right on her. She moves her shoulders under the large, curved shoulder boards with their three gold lace stripes that denote her rank as a further attempt to get comfortable. She's never liked the dress uniform much preferring the standard issue blue and grey jump suit that is the Alliance's working uniform as her daily attire. However regulations require her to wear it when on the Citadel for official business so wear it she must. She is letting the Chief Engineer handle the starting phase of the repairs to the ship while she accompanies the Captain to the briefing with the _representatives_ here on the Citadel.

It is while she is fidgeting so that Castle joins her and she notices that he seems totally at easy in the expensive looking and closely cut charcoal coloured suit he is wearing. She returns the small smile he gives her but she knows, from the way that his expression falls slightly, that he can sense that she is still not totally at ease in his presence. She's trying but she can't help the years she's spent feeling the way she has about biotics to just ignore it all just because she'd been developing feelings for the man.

She will, however, go with him on his 'date', because she is under no illusion that his request for time together to relax while they are on the Citadel is a 'date'. It is because she still feels something for Castle that she agreed to go but she is resolute in not letting whatever he has planned from rushing her. She will sort out her feelings about Castle in her own time and on her own terms and he will just have to wait for her decision.

Before either of them can engage in a stilted conversation to fill the silence between them a dress uniform wearing Captain Montgomery arrives. As her Captain stands between her and Castle he says, "Ok, let's go and see what these _representatives_ have to say."

Montgomery steps forward and the large round interior airlock door opens with three separate triangular sections receding into the wall. Beckett is just a step behind him and Castle matches her stride into the airlock. As they are docked the outer door opens immediately as the Captain steps up to them, before the inner door has finished closing behind them.

With Castle beside her she follows Montgomery down the docking tube until they emerge from the end of it onto the platform next to where the ship is docked, suspended in mid-air as multiple magnetic clamps and a locally generated mass effect field hold it there. Looking to her left she can see the tell-tale, glowing, honeycomb of the kinetic barrier that is separating the atmosphere of the dock to the space beyond the ring of the Presidium.

Turning to her right she can see a young woman in the dress uniform of a Lieutenant with the Alliance waiting for them. As they approach to the woman she snaps to attention and throws up a smart salute.

Both she and the Captain return the salute and the Lieutenant says, "Welcome to the Citadel, Captain, Commander, Mister Castle. If you'll follow me I'll escort you to your meeting."

"Lead on, Lieutenant," responds Montgomery affably and they follow the woman to a nearby lift.

Minutes later they are being led into a conference room in the Citadel Tower. The spire at the centre of the ring of the Presidium that houses the Citadel Council chambers and the offices of the Councillors themselves. Inside they find the 'representatives' that are waiting to meet and brief them. There are four of them, three humans, two men and a woman, and a Salarian. Following the Captain they approach the four waiting for them as they stand as a group at one end of the room and Beckett takes a good look at all of them.

One of the human males immediately draws her attention due to the Alliance dress uniform of an Admiral that he is wearing. That and she recognises the late fifties sandy haired man as she's served under him before. He is Vice Admiral Vasyli Mikhailovich, formerly commander of the 63rd Scout Flotilla of the Fifth Fleet and now, she recalls, head of Special Operations for the Alliance. Next to him is the similarly aged with receding grey hair and dressed in an off white and grey suit man that is another familiar face, that of the human member of the Citadel Council, Donnel Udina.

The beautiful human woman in the dark jumpsuit that shows off a slim and attractive figure with long, dark, wavy hair and equally dark eyes standing next to the Councillor she does not know but she has a fair idea who she might be. Likewise she does not recognise the green-grey skinned amphibian Salarian male standing next to the woman though the pair of white wings rising from a white circle emblem on the black and gold light armour he is wearing indicates that he is a Council Spectre.

As they stop in front of the group both she and Captain Montgomery come to attention and salute the Admiral and the Councillor. Somehow she restrains her eye roll as she sees out of the corner of her eye Castle give a small casual wave to those present in one of his usual attempts to make light of a formal situation.

Her attention is drawn back to the group in front of her as Admiral Mikhailovich says, "At ease, Captain, Commander."

As she and Montgomery lower their arms and stand more at ease Councillor Udina speaks up with his familiar if oddly accented voice as he indicates with a sweeping arm towards the table in the centre of the room, "Let us all sit down and we can discuss this situation."

Following the Councillor's instruction they all take seats around the rectangular, metal table. The Councillor sits at the head of the table with the Admiral sitting on his immediate right. Captain Montgomery sits next to the Councillor on his left and she takes the seat next to the Captain while Castle sits next to her. The woman takes a seat opposite from her and next to the Admiral and the Salarian sits down next to the woman, opposite Castle.

As the dark haired woman takes her seat she flashes a smile that, to Beckett, looks rather predatory at Castle and says across the table with a voice laced with hidden meaning, "It's good to see you, Rick."

Beside her she senses Castle go tense as he replies quickly, "Uh, you too, Sophia."

So, she thinks, her suspicions are correct the woman is a mystery no more. She's Castle's old ACI partner, Sophia Turner and as Kate studies her it is clear to her that there was more than just a working partnership between her and Castle if the familiar look the woman is giving the man next to her is any indication. Beckett admits that she's not sure how she feels about that. Though the disturbed feeling in the pit of her stomach is telling her that she might be feeling a little discomforted by the woman's blatant interest and history with Castle. Given her current uncertain feelings towards the writer this tinge of possible jealousy comes as a surprise to her.

The voice of Councillor Udina, from the head of the table, draws her attention from the brief by-play between Castle and Agent Turner as he says pompously, looking at Castle, "Before we start, I'm not sure what right a civilian has being in this highly classified briefing."

"Councillor," speaks up Montgomery. "Mister Castle was the first person to see the Collectors abduct our colonists and survive to tell about it. He has assisted Commander Beckett and her squad numerous times and during our most recent encounter with the Collector ship his actions were responsible for the saving of several lives, including the Commander's. If you put aside for a moment that Alliance Command has given him permission to be on my ship as research for his work Rick Castle is a friend, someone I trust and given what he has seen and been through has every right, in my opinion, to be here."

Before the Councillor can say anything in rebuttal of the Captain's words it is, surprisingly for Beckett, Agent Turner that then speaks up, leaning forward in her chair and giving the Councillor a significant look as she says, "Councillor, Mister Castle is former, ah, associate of mine and a contractor with ACI. Before this meeting I went to the trouble of reactivating Mister Castle's security clearance from his time with ACI so there is no reason why he can't be here."

Agent Turner pauses and looks at Castle with knowing eyes that again do something unpleasant in Beckett's stomach as she continues, "Having worked with Mister Castle before I am well aware of what he brings to the table. Not to mention he has relevant experience in regards to Cerberus. In my and ACI's evaluation Mister Castle is an asset we cannot overlook using in this situation."

An aggrieved look comes over the pale face of the Councillor as he sits back in his seat clearly taken aback at being contradicted so openly by not just Montgomery but also the ACI Agent as well. The Councillor eventually grumbles, "Well, if you're both sure. I just don't want this all turning up in one of his trashy books."

"Councillor, I assure you that none of what has happened or will happen on this mission will turn up in one of my 'trashy' books as you call them," now responds Castle. "Contrary to what my publicist might say I can be very discreet and know what details I learn from my research I can use for public consumption and what should remain classified. You can trust me to keep the details of this situation strictly under wraps."

"In fact Mister Castle published many books after his time working with the ACI where he assisted us with several highly classified operations and the agency had no problem what was in those books" chimes in Agent Turner and again she flashes a smile across the table at Castle. "If the agency can trust his discretion then I think you can too, Councillor."

There is a moment of silence as the Councillor, while still looking aggrieved, says nothing so it is Admiral Mikhailovich that eventually breaks the silence as he says, "Well, if we are all now satisfied with Mister Castle's presence here I'll complete the introductions of everyone here and then we can get started."

The Admiral indicates towards herself, Montgomery and Castle and says, "We here all know who you all are." He then indicates with his hand at Agent Turner seated next to him, "Mister Castle here clearly knows Agent Sophia Turner of Alliance Central Intelligence, an expert on Cerberus." Mikhailovich then indicates past Turner to the Salarian seated on the other side of her, "and finally, we are joined by Jondun Bau, a Council Spectre. He has some experience with the Collectors and has been tasked by the Council to look into these abductions and the Collector's role in them."

"Indeed," says Bau in the slightly high-pitched and fast speech typical of a high metabolism and short lived Salarian. "This kidnapping of members of the species on mass is behaviour very much out of the norm for the Collectors. The Council is concerned this signifies a change in their behaviour that could become a threat to galactic security as a whole."

"Not that they were prepared to look into the mass abductions of so many human colonists before this. They considered this an Alliance problem until the Collector's involvement became known. As it is have they offered a fleet to help us? No, just one Spectre so for all intention purposes we are still on our own with this," complains Agent Turner next to the Salarian.

This time it is Councillor Udina that contradicts the ACI Agent as he says, "The Council is in a difficult position. They advised the Alliance against allowing humans to settle in the Terminus Systems and they can't be seen to be interfering with the sovereignty of those Systems. Frankly after the Battle of the Citadel two years ago the Council, not to mention the Alliance fleets, are still rebuilding and neither of us can afford an open conflict with the Terminus Systems right now. We should be thankful that we have access Spectre Bau's knowledge and expertise as it is."

The Salarian bows his long tapering head and his large solidly black eyes that are set widely near the top blink quickly as he responds, "Thank you, Councillor. I do not wish to get mired in the politics of this matter. I am here to complete my mission for the Council and that includes giving the Alliance whatever intelligence and assistance I can provide."

"Alright," says Admiral Mikhailovich, bringing the attention back to him. "Captain Montgomery, why don't you start with a report of your engagement with Collector vessel?"

"Yes, Admiral," responds Montgomery with a nod and Beckett listens as the Captain then proceeds to tell those in the room about their brief battle with what they now know was a Collector ship.

Once Montgomery has finished his recounting of events it is the Spectre that comments, "It is surprising that your vessel was able to survive an encounter with a Collector ship let alone be able to inflict significant damage on them as well. From what little I have been able to discover and observe for myself the Collectors have technology that is significantly in advance of the rest of us in the galaxy. Your ship must truly be as remarkable as has been reported for it to have prevailed so."

"I may sound biased but the _New York_ is the finest ship in the Alliance but she's not the only thing that saved us. I also have the best crew in the fleet. Without them the ship for all its fancy new technology is just a collection of metal composites, Ezo and circuitry," responds Montgomery with pride. He then turns to Admiral Mikhailovich and says, "To that end I'm forwarding my recommendation for a commendation for Flight Lieutenant Castle, our chief pilot. It was mainly thanks not only to her piloting skills but also due to some lifesaving engineering modifications she came up with that we were able to hold our own in that fight."

Beckett can feel Castle swell with pride next to her at the Captain's words but he uncharacteristically refrains from commenting though she's sure he'd like to.

Admiral Mikhailovich nods in acknowledgment of Montgomery's words, "I'm sure Alliance Command will look favourably on any such recommendation, Captain. Now, I'll let Agent Tuner fill you in on the attack on Horizon."

Beckett turns her attention towards the admittedly attractive female agent as she tells them of the Collector attack on human colony. As the women briefs them Beckett can't help but notice that the ACI Agent seems to be focusing her attention almost exclusively on Castle and not the others around the table. Again trying to ignore the green eyed jealousy that is developing as a result of the woman's blatant attention towards Castle, Beckett tries to concentrate on what the woman is saying.

What she tells them is how, due to power compatibility problems, the ground based GARDIAN laser batteries that Operations Chief Williams was there to oversee the installation of, were off-line when the Collector ship landed at the colony. Once landed the ship released a cloud that was later identified to be a swarm of small bug like organic and mechanical hybrid drones that proceeded to paralyse any member of the colony's population that they came into contact with. Then the bipedal, insectoid Collectors had emerged from their ship, started placing the paralysed colonists into pods and then took them aboard their ship.

It is at that point of Agent Turner's story that Castle chimes in with, "Just like what I saw at Williamstown."

Turner gives him a small nod as she responds, "Indeed, Rick. I'm glad you were able to avoid being taken by them. According to Chief Williams if that Cerberus frigate and its squad of soldiers hadn't shown up and helped bring the defences on-line to drive their ship off then all of the colonists at Horizon would have been taken just like the populations at the other colonies."

"Any idea how the Cerberus squad was able to counteract the paralysing agent of the drone swarm? From what we were able to determine at Williamstown wearing armour makes no difference. The few members of the colony's security force that were wearing it were paralysed just like everyone else," asks Beckett of the ACI Agent.

Turner gives her an appraising look before she answers, "The Cerberus Commander shared with Chief Williams how they were able to do that. Apparently they have known the Collectors are behind the abductions for some time and how they are pulling it off. They'd acquired samples of the drones and have been able to come up with a countermeasure for them. It's a combination of shield and armour enhancements and inoculations against certain compounds. The Cerberus Commander supplied Williams with the schematics of the countermeasures and I'm having them downloaded onto the _New York's_ servers as we speak."

"Hmmm," interrupts Councillor Udina. "Both the Council and the Alliance find Cerberus' involvement with this matter as troubling. Not to mention an embarrassment that it is a declared terrorist organisation that seems to be better at protecting our colonists from this threat than the Alliance military at the moment. We do not like that we are playing catch-up with Cerberus in this matter. That is why, once your repairs are complete, Agent Tuner will be accompanying you for the rest of this mission."

"I also request permission to join your mission, Captain Montgomery," asks Spectre Bau. "I think you will find my knowledge of the Collectors most valuable and the Council would appreciate my involvement in the mission as well." Bau finishes with a nod towards Councillor Udina who nods in confirmation back.

Beckett watches the Captain scratch his chin in contemplation for a moment before he answers, "Well, any help with this at this stage would be welcome. However, we are not only playing catch up with Cerberus but we are woefully behind in our intelligence in the Collector's movements as well. Yet they seem to have no trouble in laying a trap for us. With your expertise regarding the Collectors are you able to give us any idea where they may strike next, Spectre Bau?"

The large black pools of the Salarian's eyes stare at the Captain as he replies, "Perhaps. I have some contacts on Omega that do business with the Collectors from time to time. Once your ship is fully functional again I suggest we go there and I will speak to them. It's as good a place to start as any."

"What about the Collector's motives for doing this? Do you have any insight on that?" Castle asks of the Spectre.

Bau gives an almost human looking shrug of his shoulders as he responds, "Nothing definitive. For years they have acquired genetic material from a variety of species. While they have bought whole individuals from slavers they have never taken so many individual beings of the same species at the same time before. As I alluded to earlier, in all my years of studying them I have never previously seen this behaviour from them. It is most troubling and why I must go with you on this mission."

"Alright then, that's settled," declares Councillor Udina. "Once the _New York's_ repairs are complete Agent Turner and Spectre Bau will accompany you to Omega where you will try to learn where the Collectors will strike next and stop them from abducting any more colonists. Not to mention doing this without further _assistance_ from Cerberus. On behalf of the Council, I wish you all luck."

* * *

 _A/N: So Sophia is joining the crew. I wonder how Castle and particularly Beckett will handle that?_

 _In this chapter I come the closest to making this a crossover story. The characters of Councillor Udina, Admiral Mikhailovich and Jondum Bau all appear in the Mass Effect games. While they are not primary characters in the games they are ancillary characters, Udina particularly is a significant one. I've not categorized this as a crossover but if people think I should because of this then I will._

 _Otherwise more adventures in this universe to follow._


	15. Chapter 15

_Disclaimer: I have no ownership of Castle or Mass Effect_

* * *

 _The Presidium – The Citadel_

Castle sits at the table at the café and waits patiently yet with some ever present nerves. He looks around at his peaceful surroundings seated as he is in one of the large open areas of park that is this part of the inside of the ring of the Presidium. The horizon curving up in the distance still takes some getting used to for him but the with the artificial sunlight, blue sky hologram generated above him and the green grass and trees near the paved area where the tables and the chairs of the café are grouped he could almost forget he is on a space station thousands of light years from his home.

He is waiting here, with increasing anxiety for his companion for the afternoon, one Commander Kate Beckett. She'd agreed to this little 'date' before they arrived on the Citadel and if there is one, of the many things, he knows about Kate Beckett is that she keeps her word so he shouldn't be as worried as he is but he can't help it. Castle is still unsure of what Beckett thinks of him now that she knows he's a biotic. A person with the same abilities that so brutally killed her mother and which event drove her to be the strong, fearless and emotionally closed off woman she is today.

He is hoping that she doesn't see him the same as that monstrous person, whoever they are, that killed her mother. The time they've spent together before now should have helped with that and today's little get together will hopefully go further in that regard as well. Oh, boy does he hope so.

Before they arrived on the Citadel Castle had been confident that he could win Beckett back. He wasn't going to push and is willing to wait for her. In his mind he is coming to realise that there is not woman he'd be more willing to wait for than Kate Beckett. It's just that since their arrival on the Citadel he's noticed something different about Beckett and he can't figure out whether this difference is a good or bad thing is regards to her feeling towards him.

Since the briefing a few days ago she's been busy overseeing the repairs to the _New York_ and so they haven't had much of a chance to spend time together. Besides one or two quick, shared meals in the mess of the ship he's not had the chance to really talk to her. The stilted conversations they'd had during those meals had been clouded by their existing issues but Castle has also detected something else is and in his mind it is a hopeful something else.

What little they have discussed had been honest expressions of their feelings and revelations about their pasts. Beckett, surprisingly, had lead the way as she described to him the anguish she went through after her mother was killed. He had reciprocated by describing how alone and how much like an outcast he'd felt sometimes with he was young and it was revealed he was a biotic. In the end he believes they have been making progress which is why he hopes this date will let them clear the air once and for all and get them back to where he hopes they can be, despite her lingering issues with his abilities.

That still didn't stop him from worrying that she would find an excuse to cancel this date of theirs but she'd surprised him last night after he'd run into her on the way to his quarters. The hopeful and shy look she'd given him as she'd asked if their date was still on gave his own tentative feelings of hope a boost. Hope that this would be the chance he needs to get them back on the trajectory they were headed on before she found out he was a biotic.

Then, if all the issues he currently has with Beckett aren't enough, there is that other fly in the ointment has to show up in the form of Sophia Turner. He won't deny that he felt something when he saw her again at the briefing but he's rationalised it as just a normal reaction to seeing someone he's had an intimate relationship in the past with. Seeing Sophia again has in no way changed his growing feelings for Beckett. If anything they may have even strengthened as being in Sophia's presence again reminds him of why the relationship with the ACI Agent didn't work and he has no intention of making the same mistakes he made then with Sophia now with Beckett.

When he was with Sophia he was younger, fuller of himself and yet vulnerable what with is missing Alexis as she was off at the Alliance Academy. He sees now that he was in no way emotionally mature enough to be in a long term relationship with someone let alone someone like Sophia.

Oh, it had been fun at the time. He'd been caught up in the excitement of helping the ACI on some cases and had let the romance of working with a beautiful, intelligent and strong woman like Sophia draw them together. They'd fought it at first but in the end, after one particularly close call they'd fallen into bed together and then into a relationship.

Again he won't deny that the sex with Sophia had been incredible. Hot, exciting and more satisfying than with any partner he's had before or since but towards the end even that wasn't enough. All the time they were a couple Castle could sense that Sophia was holding part of herself back from him and if there is one thing he insists on in a relationship, especially after Meredith cheated on him, it is honesty and that the other person be completely open with him.

At first he'd dismissed it as just her keeping classified information from him as part of her job but eventually he'd come to realise that she really wasn't sharing her true self with him. That even when they were in bed he could tell that she would keep a part of herself separate from what she was doing and to him that meant that she could never truly be with him as he was prepared to be with her. This realisation on his part had already started to push a wedge between them even before the final straw of him deciding to end his time 'researching' with the ACI, despite her insistence that he remain.

In the end he'd come to even suspect why she was really interested in him as it seemed to him that she was more concerned that he, and his biotic abilities, would be lost to the agency than with the fact that their relationship would suffer with his leaving. That last blazing row they'd had had been the final straw and so when he'd left he hadn't looked back and hadn't seen her again, until the other day.

Castle is looking around hoping to spot Beckett as she approaches and so is looking over his shoulder when he hears a familiar female voice say from the opposite direction that he is currently looking in, "Waiting for someone, Rick?"

Castle screws up his eyes in frustration before turning to face the female speaker because the voice he's just heard is not the female voice he is waiting anxiously to hear. Turning his head back around he sees a black, figure hugging jumpsuit wearing Sophia Turner standing over him and regarding him with a small, knowing smile.

"Oh, hi, Sophia. Um, yes, I am waiting for someone so I don't really have time to chat right now," Castle tells her honestly but with a hint of desperation as he does not want Sophia here when Beckett gets here. There is enough to sort out between Beckett and him already without adding the complication of his past relationship with Sophia to the mix.

Unfortunately for him Sophia ignores his dismissal of her as he gives him a playful look and slinks into the spare chair at the small round metal table and she says with a flirty voice, "Well, as Commander Beckett isn't here yet I'm sure you won't mind me joining you until she does. It will give us a chance to catch up. Something I've been trying to arrange since you arrived but you always seem too busy to meet me. It's almost like you've been avoiding me."

Leaving aside that she knows he's here to meet Beckett, Sophia is an ACI agent after all, Castle almost rolls his eyes at the exaggerated reproach in Sophia's voice at the end there. That is despite the fact that the woman is also isn't wrong in saying that he's been avoiding her.

Several times he's dodged calls and messages sent to his Omni-tool from her with invitations to 'catch up'. With everything that has been going on with Beckett, not to mention their mission against the Collectors, he just doesn't want to add the complication that is Sophia Turner into the turmoil of his life at the moment. So he may have used the time before this date with Beckett, where he's been spending time with Alexis while she's been on shore leave here on the Citadel, as the very real excuse as to why he couldn't meet with Sophia. He'd thought that seeing as she is joining them on the mission once the ship is repaired then they would have ample time to talk then but it looks like the dark haired woman isn't going to wait.

Putting on one of his less than genuine smiles he responds, "I'm sure Commander Beckett won't be long so I really don't have the time right now, Sophia. I'm sure there'll be an opportunity for us to chat when the ship is repaired and we are on the mission. So, not wanting to appear rude, but why don't you wait until then."

Now she gets a mischievous look in her eye and she reaches over to place her hand on one of his that is resting on top of the table as she in a voice dripping in innuendo, "Oh I well remember some of the _chats_ we'd have during missions, Rick. Though if memory serves there wasn't much talking done _._ Don't you want to talk about where we left things? I don't know about you but I miss our time together. It might be good if we had a chance to get back some of what we had back then during this mission. _"_

Uncharacteristically for him, Castle can feel his cheeks and neck get hot as the blood of a blush rushes to his skin as he recalls the _chats_ that Sophia is referring to. He quickly removes his hand from under hers as he replies firmly, "Yes I remember what we had, but that was a long time ago, Sophia. I think when we last we saw each other we said all that needed to be said about how things stand between us. Even with all the time since then nothing has changed with me in how I feel about you. Just to be clear, I'm happy to be friends and I'll work with you on this mission but there will be nothing more between us. There can't be."

A hurt look comes across her face that is belied by the gleam in her dark eyes as she says, "Why can't there be, Rick? Hoping that you'll find something better with a certain Commander, is that it?" Sophia shakes her head, "Trust me Rick. A woman like that isn't capable of appreciating a caring, loving man like yourself. She's all serious, wound up in regulations and full of hard corners caused by the harshness of combat. She'll never understand you or, given her history, accept you for what you are. I know you, Rick. I know how you've struggled with being a biotic. Do you think that your biotic hating Commander is going to just let that go?"

"Don't talk about Beckett like you know her, Sophia, or what she's been through," Castle counters angrily. "I won't ask how you know about her past or why you found the need to look into it other than it being an indication of your usual tendency to interfere in others live, particularly mine. No, Beckett has more strength and integrity than you'll ever have. I know where I stand with her. She doesn't deny she has issues with biotics but we are working through that. You, however, you say you know me and you might to some small extent but there is no way I can say the same about you and I never will. I can't say I know everything about Beckett either but I'm willing to learn with her and I feel I have a chance with her as well. Whereas with you, no matter how hard I try, you'll never be open enough with me for me to truly know you. Kate Beckett is a beautiful, intelligent, fascinating woman that I fully intend doing my best to make as happy as I can. I haven't felt this genuinely about a woman before, not even when I was with you, so I will do anything I can to show her how good I think we can be together. So any ideas you might have for us reliving old times can die right here as I tell you equivocally that I am not interested, Sophia. "

Now a critical look comes across Sophia's face and all pretence of playfulness disappears as she shrugs her shoulders and says, "Well, if that's the way it is, Rick, I won't push anymore." She pauses as she looks over his shoulder before then saying, "Well, looks like he woman of the hour is here so I better go."

With the same slinky grace with which she sat down Sophia rises from her chair and stands over him. Then before he can say or do anything she is leaning down and planting a lingering kiss to his cheek before rising and with a small wink saying, "Just remember if things don't work out, Rick, I'm right here."

She then walks off, passing Beckett as she goes acknowledging the Commander with an over cheery, "Commander!"

* * *

 _Earlier….._

Beckett wipes her palms on her thighs through the front of the casual yet tight, purple dress she is wearing for about the tenth time since she left her quarters on the ship. Not that her hands are actually sweaty but the nerves she's feeling as she makes her way through the trees and bushes in this part of the Presidium park are making her feel like they are.

Lanie had been the one to convince her to put on this, one of the few examples of casual wear she has in her wardrobe, on for her date with Castle. She feels much more comfortable in the Alliance day uniform than this stylish dress with its lack of sleeves and a hemline that finishes just before her knees but the doctor would have none of that. At least it is somewhat high cut a fact that Lanie had commented on, along the lines that she should really be showing off the girls not covering them up.

Her friend has not let up with her encouragement to let go of her distrust of biotics and give a chance for a relationship with Castle. Until now she's been so busy with work that she's been able to hold Lanie off but now that she has the time and had agreed to this date with Castle her friend has done everything to 'prepare' her for this date and for giving a certain writer a chance.

Not that Lanie really has to try that had because ever since they arrived at the Citadel Beckett has been thinking that there is a chance that she can put her feelings about biotics aside. At least she can put them aside for someone like Castle. And she is prepared to admit to herself, but no one else, that seeing the way that ACI Agent interacted with him at the briefing may have also had something to do with it as well.

Seeing the intimate familiarity between Castle and Agent Turner had made Beckett realise that if she didn't get her feelings sorted out then there could be a chance that she could lose any chance with the man. That he would realise that trying to be with a broken, emotionally inhibited woman like her wasn't worth the trouble and he'd leave. With the realisation that she did not want him to go, something she would not have believed possible if you'd told that when she first met him, she then resolved herself to trying to put aside her feelings against biotics and focus on what her feelings truly are for Castle.

Those feelings are what have her so nervous as she approaches the café where she's agreed to meet him. They are feelings she can't say she's ever felt before for another man, not even Will with whom she probably had the most significant relationship she's had with a man before this. She's still sorting out what exactly these feelings are but at least she is taking the time to sort them out and not simply dismissing them or shutting them down like she would have before meeting a certain writer.

As Beckett rounds the last tree that separates her from the paved 'outside' dining area of the café she stops in her tracks as she spies Castle seated at a table with Sophia Turner. A churning starts in her gut as she sees that Agent Tuner has one of her hands covering Castle's but the feeling of jealousy that accompanies the churning is immediately alleviated with the quickness by which Castle almost snatches his hand back away from Turner's.

From where she is standing she can hear most of what follows, especially when Castle gets angry in defence of her. The feelings of jealousy that reared up in her at the sight of Castle sitting with who she suspects was more than just a work colleague for him dissipate as she hears him reject the overt propositioning of him by Agent Turner.

Deciding that it's time to step up herself if she really wants to stake her own claim for a relationship with Castle she continues forward to join the seated couple. Beckett sees Turner's eyes flash towards her so she knows now that she has been seen and as she gets closer Turner gets up, gives Beckett another look and then leans in and gives Castle a kiss on the cheek.

With that the jealousy is back with a vengeance but Beckett is also tongue tied with the blatant challenge that the agent is obviously giving her so she only nods in acknowledgment when as the woman saunters past her with a cheery, "Commander!"

Beckett joins Castle at the table and thinks, oh this is on! If that woman thinks she can challenge her, Kate Beckett, then she's going to soon learn what a mistake that is. As she sinks into the seat that the ACI Agent just vacated and sees the disturbed look on Castle's face as she joins him, she thinks that she might almost thank Agent Turner.

Thank her because that little display and challenge to her has served to crystallise her thinking in regards to how she feels about the man seated across from her. She is not going to let her personal baggage or history hold her back anymore. Holding her back from the man seated across from her and a relationship with him and everything that entails.

"Umm, hi, Beckett," Castle finally says once she is seated.

Now that she has decided to commit to trying for a relationship with Castle she is suddenly assaulted with a bout of nerves as she almost shyly replies, "Hi, Castle."

A look of concern appears on Castle's face and he quickly looks over his shoulder in the direction that Sophia Turner just departed and then back to her again and he stammers out, "Oh, Beckett, you've got to know that I didn't arrange to meet Sophia here….she just happened by….I would never ask to meet you here and her as well…..she means nothing to me and…."

Beckett holds up her hand to stop the rush of words from his lips and says, "It's ok, Castle. I understand, no need to explain." She gives him a small smile and then playfully challenges, "So this is your idea of a good time is it? A meeting at a café on the Presidium? If we were just going to meet for coffee we could have done that in the mess on the ship."

The look of concern on Castle's face is instantly transformed into a look of wonder soon followed by his own playful look. He clearly decides to accept that she is not bothered, or at least does not blame him, for Sophia's presence and to go along with her good-humoured attitude.

"Of course this is not all, Beckett. I just thought that this would be a nice starting point," Castle reassures her pleasantly. "This way I can ensure you get your required dosage of caffeine before we move onto the real reason I asked you to join me. And speaking of caffeine," Castle waves a hand at someone over her shoulder.

The next moment a young Asari in a waitress uniform appears at their side and places two cups of coffee and a plate of pastries in front of them all the while giving them both a friendly smile. Just as quickly as she appeared the waitress departs leaving them to their treats.

As Beckett takes in the pastries on the plate in front of them she exclaims happily, "Bear claws! I didn't know anyone on the Citadel knew how to make these."

She reaches for one of the pastries and as she takes a bite from it her tastebuds are immediately filled with the familiar sweet taste of the almond paste filling. She grins at him as she chews and then picks up her coffee and takes a sip. It is no surprise to her that the coffee is her usual latte with two pumps of sugar free vanilla and that combined with the pastry in her hands banishes any further thoughts of conniving ACI Agents and lets her focus on the man in front of her.

Castle smiles happily back at her, reaching for his own pastry as she says, "Oh I always know a guy, Beckett. In this case the chef at this café is from Earth, Brooklyn in fact, and pastries from home are his speciality. If you think these are good wait until you try his cronuts."

"What? Cronuts? Why wait? I insist we try them now. I haven't had a cronut in years," Beckett shoots back at him in mock indignation as she childishly insists on trying the afore mentioned treat.

Castle holds up his hands in mock appeasement as he says cheekily, "Hold your horses there Beckett. We can't have you gorging yourself on pastries otherwise you won't fit into your armour anymore and then where would the galaxy be without you able to defend it."

Beckett gives him a faux scowl as she picks off a piece of her bear claw and flicks it at him in response to his implied insult that she would get fat from eating the pastries. She laughs as he dodges out of the way of the flying piece of pastry and the adoring look he gets in his eyes at the sound of her laugh makes her heart flutter.

Not wanting to get carried away as their date is still young, she takes another long sip if her coffee, staring into the brown liquid for a good couple of seconds before she has got her equilibrium back. Under control again but still happy she lowers her cup and looks back up at him to see him still looking at her adoringly.

This time it is Castle that seems to need to gather himself as he shakes his head briefly and then quickly says, "Now drink and eat up, Beckett. As I said this is only the start. The sooner we finish the sooner I can show you the real reason I asked you to meet with me today."

"Ok, Castle, but whatever it is it better be great to beat finding my new place to have something to eat from home when I'm here on the Citadel," she challenges.

"Oh, it will be, Beckett. I promise it will be," he assures her sincerely.

And sincere he is as a little latter she stands looking around in wonder at shelves almost groaning under the weight of actual leather bound and paper filled books that surround her.

After finishing their coffees and pastries she'd accepted his offered arm without any of the qualms she would have expected and with her arm looped through his had been led here. Here is a small bookshop deep in Zakera Ward that is run by a tall, regal looking female Turian that Castle had greeted as Krazzil.

She is staring around in wonder because of all the real actual books that are on the shelves around her. While some people like herself still buy actual books to read it is much more common, especially amongst non-human races, for people to download digital copies of books or for books to be fabricated at the time of purchase. Finding an actual bookshop that sells real books that the smell tells her are all old, possibly original prints, here on the Citadel, is a rare thing indeed.

Beckett runs her fingers down the leather spines of the nearest rows of novels and sees from their titles that they are all almost exclusively the same genre of novels and she comments on this over her shoulder at Castle standing behind her "These are all mystery novels."

"Well, I am a mystery writer so you'd think I'd know the best place to find mystery novels on the Citadel. Besides, with law enforcement the next most popular profession after the military on Palaven the Turians love crime fiction and Krazzil has the best selection of mystery and crime novels in this quadrant of the galaxy," he tells her as she continues down the row of shelves still running her fingers along the spines of the books.

Having reached the end of the row she turns back to face him and says teasingly, "And let me guess. You just happen to be famous on Palaven because of your work as well and that's how you know about this place?"

He shrugs his shoulders and looks sheepish but it is the avian, six foot tall Turian, Krazzil, who is standing behind the counter not far from her that answers, "Oh, Rick, is certainly famous on Palaven, or should I say infamous, after his last book tour."

Her interest peaked she asks the Turian, "Oh, do tell?"

At that Castle comes striding down the row of shelves, holding up his hands in a stopping gesture as he says, "Uh, Krazzil, there's no need to bore the Commander here with tales of my past."

Even through the often hard to read hard carapace of their skin and the mandibles that make up their mouths Beckett can see the baleful look the Turian shoots back at Castle from her small dark eyes as she ignores him and says, "Last time our esteemed writer here was on Palaven he tried sticking his chubby human nose into a murder investigation. Kept getting in the way of Palaven Security so much and making himself such a nuisance that the Primarch himself got involved."

"Hey, in my defence I did help find the killer and while I might have bent a few Turian protocol rules in doing so I think they were happy for my assistance in the end," protests Castle indignantly.

Krazzil just shakes her head and says, "Yes, well you're just lucky that the Primarch is a fan of your books otherwise you'd be persona non grata on Palaven for interfering in an official investigation regardless of how much you helped."

Kate now regards Castle with an arched eyebrow and says, "The leader of the Turian Hierarchy is a fan, huh? The Turian Primarch, the Systems Alliance Defence Minister, who else of significance is a fan of your work, Castle? The Salarian Dalatrass perhaps?"

Castle actually blushes at her question but again it is the Turian shopkeeper that answers for him, "Oh, no the Salarains hate his work. What was it that was in that review from one of their leading literary critics…oh yes, _Richard Castle's work shows the typical lack of complexity that we have come to expect from the mundane and unintelligent fictions produced by human writers of his low calibre."_

"Ouch!" Beckett exclaims in sympathy giving Castle a look that conveys the same.

"Salarians don't like most human fiction anyway. They like spy thrillers so I thought they'd love my Derrick Storm books but it turns out that human fiction lacks the subtlety, intricacy and detail, read dullness, of Salarian fiction," justifies Castle.

Beckett walks up to him and pats him consolingly on the arm as he says, "Not to worry, Castle. It's only a union of planets with billions of citizens. I'm sure you're not missing out on anything not being able to sell your books to them. Some of us still buy your books."

Castle gives her a look as she teases him, "Ha, ha, Beckett…..," then he pauses and a disconcertingly predatory appears on his face as he says, "Wait, I knew you liked mystery fiction, it was one of the few things about you that I was able to get out of your friend, Dr Parish. It's why I brought you here, but you just said 'some of _us_ buy your books'? _Us_ implies that _you_ buy my books. Are you a fan, Beckett?" he now teases.

Beckett can feel the heat of a blush on her cheeks as she quickly turns away from him and resumes her studying of the titles of the books on the nearest shelves as she tries to dismiss what he is saying, nonchalantly, "I may be a fan of the genre but not your books specifically."

She can feel him step up close behind her and then the hot breath in her ear as he says quietly, "What's the matter, Kate? Afraid to tell me that you've been a fan of my work all this time. If you'd told me this before I would have arranged a private signing of your copies of my books for you."

Beckett whirls around and despite the heels she's wearing looks up into his bright blue eyes that currently have an alluring darkness about them and her breath catches in her throat for a second. She manages to gather herself despite the rapid beating of her heart as they stand so close together, their chests almost touching.

"I…uh…may have a couple of your books, just like I have a lot of other author's works. As I said I'm a fan of the genre, Castle. Don't read too much into it," she says in a voice that she admits to herself doesn't sound that convincing.

He gives her a lopsided grin and she can tell he hasn't bought what she is saying for a moment. However he does give her an accepting nod and says, "Whatever you say, Kate."

Then to her surprising consternation he takes a step back and then gestures around the store with a sweep of his arm as he says, "So putting aside your appreciation for my writing for the moment, and don't worry we will get back to that at a later date, let me get to the main reason I brought you here."

Ignoring his jibe about her appreciating his writing she decides to play along and asks, "Why did you bring me here, Castle? I would think showing me that a place like this exists is more than enough."

A happy smile is on his face after she says that but he shakes his head as he continues, "While I know a fan of the _genre,_ as you put it, like you appreciates this place I don't just want to show you that it exists. No, I want you to take a look around and pick a book, any book and it is yours. My treat."

"Oh, no, Rick. I couldn't. You don't have to buy me a book. I'm not poor. The Alliance does pay me you know. I can afford to buy my own books," she protests even though she does appreciate the generous gesture from him.

Castle just shakes his head again as he responds emphatically, "I know you can afford to buy your own books, Kate. I just want to do this for you. Give you a gift that means something. Something to mark what I hope will start to be something more between us….that is if you are willing for there to be more between us given what I am."

The careful look he gives her as he says those last words makes her feel bad for the way she's acted since she found out he's a biotic. She knows that he has his own insecurities with what he is and what others think of him as well. Guilt rises in her as she contemplates how she has probably added to those insecurities.

So to alleviate any lingering fears that Castle may have about what she thinks of him and to start them on the path that she hopes will lead to more between them she says honestly to him, "What you are, Rick, is a good man and nothing else matters to me, truly. I would be honoured if you would buy me a book."

The smile that lights up his face at her words reflect the bright future that she hopes lies before them.

* * *

 _A/N:_ So all it took for Beckett to give Castle a chance is for Sophia to show some interest. I hope this is not too quick but as I've said I will always write Castle and Beckett together or getting together.

As for the show.

I delayed the release of this chapter so that it would come out on the same day as the last ever episode of the show I enjoyed so much in honour of it. I am sad that this show, that in my opinion should and could of lasted for many years to come, is ending now but at least there is the small consolation that it is ending with Caskett intact. While I'm sure that Nathan Fillion and the rest of the cast and crew would have worked their hardest to give us the best show they could if there had been another season, without Stana Katic and the Beckett character (not to mention Tamala Jones/Lanie) it would not have been the same show or one that I would have been likely to watch. It also would have made all those past episodes, knowing that Beckett and Castle don't end up together in the end, so difficult to ever watch again.

I am still annoyed with the network and others in charge of the show that they let this come to pass and how badly the whole end of the show has been handled. It adds an unfortunate taint to the memory of the show.

However in the end I will try to look back and appreciate all the great stories and characters that this show has given me, particularly the tough and beautiful Kate Beckett and the intelligent and irreverent Richard Castle. These characters and their stories will live on for as long as there are fanfiction writers that will keep writing them and fans that are out there to read them.

So long Castle.


	16. Chapter 16

_Disclaimer: I do not have any rights to Castle or Mass Effect_

* * *

 _Omega – The Terminus Systems_

Castle tries to weave his way through the throng of beings that crowd the public spaces of Omega without jostling anyone but the sheer number of people of various species make it impossible. He notices to his chagrin that his companions, Beckett, the Salarian Spectre, Jondum Bau and Sophia Turner, do not seem to be having the same difficulty as they seem to be able to move through the crowd with ease.

Omega is probably one of the most dangerous and disreputable places in the galaxy so he is careful to apologise to anyone he bumps into as he tries to keep pace with his companions. The station was originally built to mine the Element Zero core of a large asteroid that had been cracked in half due to a collision with another asteroid. From the outside, with the domed top of the half of the asteroid that the station is built into and the constructed spires that radiate down from this top, Omega looks like a giant metallic jellyfish.

The mine tapped out years ago but the station continues to thrive as a haven for criminals, terrorists and other ner-do-wells. There is no government or corporation in charge here so there are no laws for people to break which makes it a favoured destination for the lawless or those just wanting a place to hide. Only the more significant criminal gangs and mercenary groups maintain some semblance of order on the station. The main one of which is run by Aria T'Loak, the Asari crime boss who is considered the unofficial Pirate Queen of Omega.

Castle has been to Omega before. As a mystery writer how could he not have visited the cess pool that is Omega for 'research'? It had not been long after he stopped working with the ACI and he had not been on the station for more than three hours before he had a run into trouble. A group of extremely unpleasant Vorcha had taken exception to his presence in the nightclub, _Afterlife_. Fortunately for him the club's owner and their security had intervened and prevented him from becoming a victim of the notoriously touchy and violent Vorcha.

It was through the acquaintance he sequentially built with that same club owner that he managed to get some his best material ever on the seedy underbelly of the galaxy. As he continues to follow the black and gold armoured Bau, who is leading them to his contact here on the station, Castle knows that he should go and pay a visit to the owner of _Afterlife_ while he is here. If for no other reason as to show respect to someone who he in no way wants to get on the bad side of but there isn't time. That and he has too, no, needs to stay at Beckett's side and she is following Bau.

Bau leads them through a couple of doors and down some flights of steps and the crowds start to thin as the Spectre leads them into more sparsely populated areas of the station. They are now walking down a surprisingly empty, for Omega, corridor where the lighting is low and the grime on the metal walls and floor tells him that not many people come down here.

He is about to ask the Salarian 'If they're there yet?' in a childish way just to see if he can crack the oh so serious attitude of the Spectre when, surprisingly, Sophia asks virtually the same question, all be it in a much more mature manner.

"How far until we meet this contact of yours Bau?" Sophia asks in a slightly annoyed voice.

"It is not far. In fact we have arrived," the Salarian says in a clipped tone as he stops in front of a closed metal door.

Bau raises his left arm and over his long fingers the orange hologram of his Omni-tool appears and he runs a scan over the door. Castle nervously looks around to see if anyone is watching and as he does so he catches Beckett's eye as she is doing the same. They share a look and Castle sees an encouraging gleam in the Commander's eye.

Ever since their date on the Citadel things have been progressing nicely between himself and Beckett. They have spent much of their spare time together and have shared many meals. They have talked long and deeply, while also having as much fun as is possible on a warship travelling through space. Just a glimpse of her smile let alone to hear the music this is her laugh brightens his day so he makes it his mission to make Beckett smile and laugh as much as possible.

They haven't gotten more physicaly intimate yet. Hell, they haven't even kissed which is so much out of the norm for him that it must be love because, before now, there is no way he wouldn't have kissed a woman as gerrgeous as Beckett by this stage of their relationship. They've come close couple of times but someone, it was Ryan the last time, always seems to interrupt them just as they're about to.

As he breaks eye contact with Beckett his gaze falls upon Sophia who is regarding him with a knowing and mocking grin. While the _New York_ was in transit to Omega Sophia had again tried to 'reconnect' with him with invitations have some 'alone time' together. She even went as far as crashing a meal that he was sharing with Beckett in the mess one night. He continues to give no encouragement to the woman but she seemingly won't be deterred.

Time and again he's made it clear that he no longer has any interest in her and that, in fact, his interest lies solely with someone else, Beckett. This only seems to make Sophia more determined and she just won't leave him alone. Then again that is not entirely a bad thing because the continuing interest from Sophia seems to be having a positive effect on his burgeoning relationship with Beckett.

If he didn't know any better he might think that the tough and assured Beckett is jealous of Sophia and her blatant interest in him. Whenever Sophia has tried to interrupt their time together the way Beckett had gotten closer to him, even putting his arm over her shoulder one time, had given him the distinct impression that she was staking her claim on him.

While this driving of her towards him is pleasing he has to be careful it doesn't get out of hand. Both women in question are strong and adept at violence and he does not want to be in the middle if the growing hostility between the two of them comes to blows. While in the past the idea of two woman fighting, or cat-fighting, over him would have had him grabbing some popcorn and looking for the best vantage point to watch it from, now, with these two women, he is not so sure. Any conflict with these two is probable to be almost thermonuclear in nature and anyone in the immediate vicinity would unlikely survive.

He is taken from his musings by a loud beep from the door in front of them that is followed by it sliding open.

They all take a step forwards to enter but are stopped as Bau turns to them as says, "My contact is a valuable resource for me here on Omega and as such I don't want any of you to antagonise him. He is, how you say, prickly in nature but his intel his highly valuable to me so I ask you all to leave the talking to me as much as possible and to keep any unnecessary questions to a minimum."

Castle doesn't know whether to be amused or insulted as Bau says those last words all the while looking directly at him. It's not as if, during their time in transit to Omega, he'd pestered the Spectre with a few polite inquiries about what it is like being and agent for the Council….much. Inquires that the Salarian had, with increasing exasperation, refused to answer and which, of course, had only encouraged him to persist with asking them at any opportunity he could. In the end it took a friendly reminder from Beckett that he was being a little too annoying for him to back off from his continuing questioning of the Spectre. However it looks like he's made such an impression with Bau that he feels that he has to warn Castle specifically to be discreet.

Well, he'll show the Spectre just how serious and discreet Richard Castle can be as he flashes one of his most charming smiles at Bau and says mostly sincerely, "Of course, we're here to follow your lead, Spectre Bau."

Bau just stares at him for a couple of seconds with his widely spaced, large oval solidly black eyes before shaking his head in what Castle can only assume is resigned acceptance, turning around and leading them through the door. Sophia follows him and he and Beckett move to follow her, side by side. As they pass through the door and into the room beyond Beckett nudges him in the side with her elbow and when he looks at her she gives him a roll of her eyes and a shake of her head.

Gratified that she can see that he is 'playing' with Bau just a little bit he flashed a grin at her and is happy to see an answering smirk appear on Beckett's lips. Again she shakes her head but any further interaction between them is stopped by the wheezing voice of who Castle suspects is Bau's contact.

"What is the meaning of this, Bau? Who are all these Earth clans and why have you brought them to our meeting?" says the just over a meter tall, portly, brown and white environment suit wearing Volus standing in the centre of the small store room they have entered.

The tall and thin Salarian stands over the Volus as he says, "These humans are tasked with stopping the Collectors from abducting their colonists and as such they have a vested interest in the information you have on them. I thought it would save time if they could hear the information straight from you, Malak."

"Bah," declares the Volus with an agitated wave of his three fingered gloved hand as he steps away from the Spectre and towards where Castle, Beckett and Sophia are all standing. The short pudgy alien, that in his environment suit looks to Castle like a mole standing on two legs, looks up at them, regarding them for a good many seconds,

Eventually the indictor light in the rectangular slit in the round snout of his helmet flashes as the Volus asks, "So who are you, Earth Clan? I won't speak to people I don't know."

Surprising and to her credit in his eyes, Beckett crouches down in her mark red armour so that she can be at eye level with the Volus as she introduces them in a reasonable tone, "I am Commander Kate Beckett of the Systems Alliance and these are my colleagues Sophia Turner, also with the Alliance and Richard Castle, an independent consultant."

The small helmeted head looks back and forth between them before he gives a small nod that Castle can only hope is acceptance as the Volus says, his voice wheezing slightly through his face mask, "I am Firan Malak, I run a trading business that supplies goods from Council space for sale here on Omega."

"And he sometimes also supplies useful intelligence to the Council about some of his customers, particularly the Collectors," adds Bau from where he is standing behind Malak.

The Volus turns back to the Spectre at that but just shrugs his shoulders and says, "It is true that from time to time I have supplied information to a select few of the Council's representatives about some of my customers. While I live here on Omega I am still a loyal citizen of Council space. So long as my involvement with the Council does not become widely known then I will be able to continue to run my business here." Malak then pokes a finger towards Bau as he continues, "That is why I do not like meeting such a large group of you like this without warning. If you were followed or enve just seen entering here and it became known I am talking to Council agents then my business and health would both suffer."

Bau holds up his hands in a placating manner but it is Beckett that responds again with her reasonable tone, "Mr Malak please understand that thousands of humans have been abducted by the Collectors. We are doing everything we can to prevent more of our people from falling victim to them and that includes talking to everyone that might have important knowledge of them, like you. We are sorry if this puts you and your business at risk but we are trying to save lives here so any information you might be able to give us will be a great help."

There is a pause as Malak, who has turned to look at Beckett as she spoke, regards the crouching Commander again and Caste decides to add his own assistance, "We promise to be discreet and keep whatever you tell us here today completely confidential. We may also be able to offer you some monetary compensation for your trouble."

Castle looks at Beckett and Sophia for confirmation of his words and both nod in agreement but he notices Sophia giving him a funny look, no doubt taking issue with his ability to be 'discreet' while he suspects the look Beckett is giving him is about him saying they'll pay the man for his information. He hopes Beckett realises that Castle himself intends to pay the Volus and in no way expects the Alliance to foot the bill for any information in he may have. Otherwise ignoring the look from Sophia he looks back down at Malak giving the Volus his most sincere face all the while hoping that Volus can read human facial expressions.

"Alright, I'll tell you what I know but I warn you there's not much I can tell you about the Collectors," agrees Malak eventually but with a cautioning tone. "Few people see them face to face, not even I do and I have done more business with them than most. In the past where I've sold them some small items of technology or, one time, some bio waste but no live beings. I'm no slaver."

"If you haven't dealt with them face to face how do you do business with them?" Sophia asks sceptically with her arms folded across her chest.

"All contact is all done via the Extranet. Order requests, contract and payment negotiations and finalisations and delivery detail exchanges are all done electronically," Malak tells them.

"How do you deliver goods to them and how and with what do they pay you? We understood that they don't use credits but exchange their technology for anything they wish to acquire?" Castle asks of the Volus businessman.

"You are correct, they don't pay me in credits but in samples of their technology. Most of it is bio-mechanical in nature that is far in advance of anything anyone else produces. I'm able to on sell it to R& D firms for quite a tidy profit," Malak says proudly.

"That is when he hasn't sold it to the Council first, especially if the tech concerned has a military or intelligence potential," interjects Bau.

Ignoring the Spectre, Malak continues, "As for how we exchange our goods. The Collectors send me a message giving me coordinates for an uninhabited, planet, moon or asteroid and a date of delivery. When I arrive I find their payment waiting for me which I exchange for the goods they've ordered and then I leave. They are never there when I arrive and I don't see any sign of them or a vessel in the vicinity either."

"What's stopping you from simply taking their payment and not leaving anything in exchange?" asks Sophia a little insultingly.

Malak must take the question as insultingly as intended and even through the speakers in his enviro-suit's helmet Castle can hear his voice bristling as he answers, "Firstly I do not do business that way. I never cheat a customer. Secondly I heard of a human trader that tried doing that once. All they found of his ship was an ever expanding cloud of debris in orbit of the planet where the exchange was supposed to take place. The Collectors were also sure to let everyone they do business with know what occurred as a lesson for happens if you try to steal from them."

"How do you know you are actually dealing with the Collectors, if you never meet them face to face?" Beckett ask looking down at the Volus now standing upright again.

It is Bau that answers for Malak, "The technology that Malak has sold to the Council matches the few other examples of Collector technology that we've been able to accumulate over the years. He's dealing with them or someone who works for them."

"So if you never meet them and your only contact with them is digitally, how can you help us track them down? Do you have a delivery due soon that we might be able to steak-out?" Castle asks what he thinks are the pertinent questions.

"No, ever since the attacks started on the human colonies I've not heard a word from them. However, I have made it my business to know who else beside myself does business with the Collectors. One of these is a Batarian by the name of Telor. He's a slaver and I just happen to know that he has received an order from the Collectors for some of his 'merchandise' with delivery due in a few days," Malak tells them a little smugly, clearly pleased at being able to show off his knowledge and cunning.

"Ok, so where do we find this Telor?" Beckett asks nodding her head in acceptance of the Volus' word.

"Right here on Omega," Malak tells them. "In fact at this very moment you'll find him shoving his profits into the panties of an Asari dancer at _Afterlife_ ," the Volus business man says confidently.

* * *

 _Afterlife_

As they step into the nightclub proper Beckett's senses are assaulted by the loud, thumping music and bright, colourful, flashing lights that fill the large three story open space that is the main floor of the club. With Castle beside her and Turner and Bau following them she walks further into the club, towards the large round bar that sits in the centre of the room, with several large holo-screens above it showing images of lithe Asari dancers moving in rhythm with the thumping music.

Her eyes scan the many people of various species that are in the club looking for a Batarian that matches the description given to them by Firan Malak. As she walks deeper into the club, past numerous people either drinking, dancing or sitting in booths gambling or watching another of the gyrating Asari dancers up close, her head is on a constant swivel for her quarry.

At least no one is paying any attention to their little group as they search for the Batarian as while Castle and Turner are both dressed casually both she and Bau are wearing armour, though without helmets, but that does not seem to faze the patrons of _Afterlife_. In fact it must be a common sight as she can see for herself several other people around the club similarly attired and armed as herself and the Spectre.

They have just reached the other side of the round bar when she feels Castle's elbow nudge her side, even through her armour.

"I think that's him," Castle almost shouts in her ear so that she can hear him over the cacophony of sound in the club and he indicates towards a booth near the rear of the club.

Looking in the direction he is indicating Beckett sees that he is right as she takes in the sight of a Batarian, in a black suit with a swirling circular red tattoo on his neck sitting in a booth watching with rapt attention as a scantily clad Asari dances on the small dais in front of him. If the tattoo that Malak had described wasn't enough identification then the two large Krogan bodyguards flanking the booth, also just as Malak had described, clinch it.

Glancing briefly behind her towards Turner and Bau she indicates with her head towards where Telor is enjoying his entertainment and then strides with purpose towards him. Perhaps too much purpose as the two bodyguards immediately see them and move to put their large reptilian bodies between their boss and Beckett and her companions.

Not stopping until she is toe to toe with one of the Krogan she looks the brute in his small eyes and not for the first time she is struck with the feeling that creature in front of her looks like a dinosaur from Earth's past in humanoid form. With the muscular bulk of its battle armoured body, it's large head with no neck, the row of long wickedly pointed teeth and the red bone plate forming a crest on its head Beckett is reminded of a six foot tall T-Rex.

Not deterred by the hostility she sees in the bodyguard's black eyes she says confidently, "Stand aside. We need to talk to Telor."

The Krogan bares his glistening teeth in what she thinks for him is a grin as he says in a deep gravelly voice, "Not going to happen, human. Mr Telor is busy. Come back another time or…..," he pauses and looks her up and down. "Maybe with a little less on and he might speak to you then."

With, in her opinion, some sweet but somewhat misguided chivalry, Castle steps up to the Krogan and says assertively, "Watch it there. No need to be unpleasant. We just want to have a quiet word with him."

The Krogan gives Castle a similar up and down look that he gave Beckett. Obviously seeing him dressed as he is in his soft and casual navy blue suit the bodyguard does not rate Castle as a threat so he pointedly ignores him and says to Beckett instead, "Tell your mate to keep quiet, human, otherwise he'll find out what the business end of my shotgun feels like."

Before she can comment, particularly about the 'mate' comment, she notices that the Batarian, Telor, has stopped his study of blue Asari flesh and is trying to slip past the imposing bulk of his bodyguards to avoid them. Seeing this Bau moves to block the Batarian's escape and the other Krogan bodyguard raises the shotgun he is holding and points it at the Spectre.

That serves only to escalate matters as the bodyguard she is confronting now raises his shotgun which causes her to draw her pistol from where it is clipped to the thigh of her armour. Now she's pointing her gun at the Krogan in front of her and he is doing the same to her while she can see a similar stand-off happening between a now armed Bau and the other Krogan. She can also see that at least Turner has also moved to intercept Telor to stop him from escaping as she now stands between Telor and the nearest exit.

Standing in the middle of it all, Castle holds up his hands and says, "Woah, now let's all not do anything we might regret. No need to start a bar fight. We just want to talk to your employer. We do not want to harm him." He appeals to the bodyguards.

The Krogan in front of her gives an even more feral grin at Castle's words and says, "Doesn't matter if you are here to fight or talk. We are paid to keep people away from our boss and that's what we are going to do. In fact we relish the idea of you trying. It's been boring just standing here with nothing to do. My partner and I need our own entertainment and looks like you four are going to provide it for us."

He raises his gun higher and points it directly at Beckett and she raises her own pistol in response getting ready to shoot the Krogan between his beady little eyes and dive out of the way of any fire from him. Out of the corner of her eye she can see that the other Krogan done the same and Bau likewise seems to be readying himself to fire is own pistol and try and dodge an attack from his adversary.

To his credit Castle tries to calm things down again as he says desperately, "Look I don't think you want to start shooting up this place. A lot of innocent people could get hurt."

The Krogan confronting Bau chuckles at that and says, "What do we care if some drunk idiot gets caught in the crossfire, human? That's something a weak, pale, soft skin like you would worry about. It's not something that concerns a Krogan warrior."

Deciding that Castle's peacemaking efforts are getting nowhere Beckett decides that only strength and directness will work with the Krogan as she says, "Put your guns down, both of you, or you'll find out just how not weak I really am. I won't ask again."

"Ha, go ahead human. I've not had a good fight in weeks. I hope you are good enough to give me one," says the Krogan in front of her.

She can see actually see his arm and finger start to flex, indicating he is about to fire when there is a loud, female voice booming from above them shouting, "STOP!"

So focused is Beckett on the foe in front of her that she is actually startled by the loud command and she is not the only one because she observes the Krogan in front of her actually cringe at the sound of the voice from above. She is surprised when he lowers his gun and then turns to look up and behind him. The other Krogan has done the same so seeing that it is safe she follows their gaze a looks up at the balcony of the booth, one story above them.

Standing up there she sees a beautiful Asari in revealing white top with a high collar that is fastened together at the front with clips over her breasts that leaves a gap straight down her front. On her blue, almost purple face a black line is tattooed over her bottom lip and down the middle of her chin. The Asari looks down at them with disdain and a little anger and Beckett actually shudders because even she has heard of who this Asari is and what their reputation is. For this is Aria T'Loak, Pirate Queen of Omega and one of the most ruthless crime lords in the galaxy.

Coming in here she had hoped to avoid a confrontation with Aria or her people. Not that she is afraid of a fight but having to engage with Aria and her people would be an unnecessary distraction from her mission. She needs to be focused on finding information on the Collectors so that she can stop them from taking any more colonists. Not wasting time getting in a firefight with Aria T'Loak's mercs.

The thumping music in the club has stopped and a hush has come across the room as everyone stops to watch the scene unfolding before them. Around Beckett now, several beings of numerous species start gathering around her, the Krogan, Telor and her companions and from their armour and weapons she can tell these aren't your typical nightclub bouncers.

Beckett now turns to face the nearest of Aria's people ready to fight if she has too. While she didn't want to get involved in a conflict with the crime lord she isn't about to let her interfere with her mission. She'll do whatever it takes to get the information she needs for the Batarian, Telor, and no one is going to get in her way.

Almost as if Aria is telepathic, not just a powerful biotic and she can read Beckett's thoughts Aria's voice projects loudly at them saying, "THERE WILL BE NO VIOLENCE HERE UNLESS I WILL IT! PUT YOUR WEAPONS DOWN ALL OF YOU! I WILL NOT TELL YOU A SECOND TIME!"

The tension around them is at a fever pitch and Beckett is trying to scope out which of the surrounding armed foes she will take out first and what is the nearest available cover she can get herself and Castle behind. Then to her surprise and dismay Castle takes a step forward and puts himself more into the light and the vision of the crime boss looking down at them.

"Castle!" she hisses at him trying to get him to step back and not make such a target of himself, unarmed as he is. While he is a biotic he would stand no chance against one with the experience and reputation for ruthlessness of Aria T'Loak.

However she is surprised again as a much quieter and almost affectionate sounding tone can be heard from the Asari above them as she asks, "Richard Castle? Is that you?"

Then as she looks over at Castle she is further surprised and made even more curious by the almost sheepish smile he has as he gives Aria little wave and says, "Hey, Aria. Long-time no see."

* * *

 _A/N: And we'll leave the face to face meeting with Aria T'Loak, a significant secondary character from ME 2 & 3, for the next chapter. More to come. Thanks to you all for sticking with this story._


	17. Chapter 17

_Disclaimer: Castle and Mass Effect do not belong to me only this story does._

* * *

 _Afterlife – Omega_

Castle steps into Aria's private booth that overlooks the main floor of the nightclub with mixed emotions. Partly he feels confident. He knows Aria and when he last saw the Asari crime boss they parted with much more amity than he did with a certain ACI agent that is following a couple of steps behind him.

Then again because he knows Aria he is also nervous. The beautiful Asari is notoriously capricious not to mention to ruthless. The fact that their little group has come onto her turf and started to cause trouble could have Aria look upon them less than favourably. If there is one unwritten rule on Omega that everyone follows is that you don't start stuff in _Afterlife,_ not if you don't want Aria involved.

As he steps up the next couple of steps up towards the large bench seat that is elevated like a throne at the end of the booth he looks up into the dark eyes of Aria as sits reclining on it. She is sternly regarding the group that is being ushered into her presence and Castle throws a half smile at her to try and gauge her mood. The arched eyebrow she gives in response does nothing to help him decide if they are going to be exiting this booth with in the same condition as they are entering but he hopes that the lack of a more negative reaction it is a hopeful sign.

He stops a step short of Aria and turns to look back at his companions as several of Aria's people, all armed and armoured, escort them into the booth. His gaze immediately seeks out Beckett and he is relieved to see that she is calmly walking into the booth and not is plainly looking to antagonise Aria and her people. He admits that he wasn't expecting that. He was expecting at least some resistance from the tough Alliance Commander at being forcibly brought before Aria. Even if it is the stubborn resistance that Sophia is displaying as she is nudged again with the butt of an assault rifle of one of their escorts as she reluctantly makes her way into the booth.

Focusing his attention back to Beckett now, their eyes meet and as with Aria she cocks an eyebrow at him this time in a questioning manner and he tries to give her a small smile of reassurance. Further interaction between them is forestalled as both Bau and the Batarian, Telor, enter the room. The Spectre glides calmly into the room just like Beckett, while Telor is being manhandled roughly into the booth by two of Aria's people.

With everyone now present he turns back to Aria as she sits there, reclining in her seat with both arms propped up like wings on the top of her chair. The crime lord's gaze roams over all of them for a long moment before it returns to him and again she looks at him enquiringly as it to ask what he is doing with these people.

She then casually waves a hand towards the padded bench seat that lines three sides of the booth and says in a voice that while it sounds like a request only the dimmest of persons would not hear the command it truly is, "Please, why don't you all take a seat." She then pats the empty space on her right next to her and says in a voice dripping in honey, "And you can sit here with me, Richard."

As she says this he can see that she is looking directly at Beckett and he inwardly groans at the fact that already Aria has picked up on the connection between himself and the Commander. He just hopes that Aria having this knowledge won't work against them. Not that he thinks she is jealous, no, Aria and he are friends but he is decidedly not her type. In fact he is the one that could have case to worry as he sees Aria giving Beckett's slim body an obvious appraisal even though the armour she is wearing.

When they are all finally seated around the Pirate Queen of Omega, Telor shoved into his seat by an armoured Turian, Aria again looks around at them all before then ignoring them and turning to him and saying pleasantly, "While it is a pleasure to see you again, Richard, I am disappointed that you didn't come to see me the moment you arrived on Omega." She gives him a very fake pout as there is nothing in the visage of the over seven hundred year old Asari that could be considered in anyway coquettish. She then continues in a much more pointed manner, "Yet when you do come to my club you still don't even just come and say, 'Hi' but get involved in a foolish altercation with these people." She waives a hand airily around at the others.

"I'm truly sorry, Aria, but I'm helping with a very important mission and time is of the essence. I was going to come see you as soon as I could, I promise," he tells her with as much sincerity as he can.

Again while he is friends with the Asari he does not want to get on her bad side. The fact that he is the crime lord's friend came about after she saved him from being robbed, beaten and even worse in this very club years ago and then after he later saved one of her daughters from being kidnapped by a rival gang that was trying to wrest away Aria's control of Omega.

He then helped Aria during the following conflict with that gang even if getting involved in a gang war was the last thing he wanted to do. However, after saving the ten year old, Fillara, she had taken a shine to him and he did likewise with her. Her innocence and bright intelligence reminded him so much of Alexis. So he became the young Asari's unofficial bodyguard and tutor and along the way helped her mother bring down the gang that threatened her. Therefore he also helped Aria solidify her grip on Omega.

Aria nods slightly, accepting Castle's explanation and then she reaches down to pat the hand he has resting on his knee as she says, "Well, Fillara will be happy to hear you were here if upset that she missed seeing you herself as she's not here are the moment. I'm sure she'd have been thrilled to see her 'Uncle Ricky'."

"Oh, she's not on Omega?" Castle asks with genuine interest, the mission to stop the Collectors momentarily forgotten as he catches up with Aria.

"Oh, no she's at school on Thessia," responds Aria with a dismissive wave of her hand. "She's going through a rebelliously respectable stage at the moment. Distancing herself from her disreputable mother as she heads into maidenhood. She hasn't disowned me completely and we stay in touch, not to mention I have people keeping an eye on her even if she doesn't know they are there. But again I do know that she'll get a kick out of knowing you were here when I tell her."

There is then a very loud clearing of a throat from one of those seated around them and both he and Aria look at the source of the very unsubtle interruption.

The source of the noise, Sophia Turner, looks at them with as much of a glare as she can get away with when addressing one of the most notorious figures in the galaxy and says with barely disguised frustration, "As nice as this little reunion is, we are on an important mission here and you and your people are interfering with it." She then points at the Batarian sitting opposite her, being kept in place by the armed Turian standing over him, "We came to talk him. He has important information and I demand that you release us and release him into our custody."

Castle does actually cringe at Sophia's inopportune attempt at asserting herself as Aria turns a baleful look upon the ACI Agent and says, "This is my club and my station so who talks to whom is entirely up to me. Just be thankful that I know Richard here otherwise I would have thrown you all into a small room with a pack of varren and let the beasts decide. Instead I've given you all this opportunity to explain yourselves. As it is, anymore rude interruptions and I still may just see how my varren like the taste of you."

Not wanting to have Aria send his companions off to be eaten Castle speaks up quickly, "Now, Aria I'm sure Agent Turner here didn't mean to be rude. It's just that we are on a critical mission. A lot of lives are at stake, time is short and the urgency of it all means that proper manners tend to be forgotten in the name of expediency. Please forgive her."

Aria keeps her appraising stare on Sophia for a moment and Sophia, stupidly in Castle's opinion, glares right back at her before Aria then just shrugs her shoulders and says, "Of course, Richard. Anything for you. But I suggest you tell _Agent_ Turner here to keep quiet otherwise I might just forget my manners as well."

During this whole exchange several of Aria's armed and armoured people that are standing around the edges of the booth move closer to where his companions are seated and Castle worries that this meeting could go bad at any moment. It looks like he has to act as peacekeeper otherwise, in this small enclosed space, things could get very messy very quickly.

Then another voice chimes in and as he turns to the speaker, Beckett, he at first dreads what the no nonsense Commander is going to say but her calm and conciliatory tone actually surprises him as she says, "I apologize for my colleague, Ms T'Loak, but Mr Castle is correct. We are on a critical mission and Mr Telor here has intelligence vital to that mission. A mission where a lot of human lives are at stake. We meant no disrespect by trying to speak to this man in your establishment and then but trying to take him but again, as Castle has said, time is of the essence. On behalf of the Systems Alliance I humbly request that we be allowed to leave and take this man with us so that we can ask him our questions."

At the end of her little speech Beckett's eyes flick to meet his and he gives her a little nod of approval. This woman never ceases to amaze him. Normally you would think someone in her position and with her training and background would act as bull-headed with Aria T'Loak, who is a criminal when it comes down to it, as Sophia did, but no. No, Beckett has read the situation and has correctly come to realise that diplomacy and not force, the tactic you would normally assume a soldier like her would use, is the best way to get what they want.

Now Aria is giving Beckett her appraising stare and he is conscious of a couple of glances in his direction as well as again Aria seems to have picked up on the connection between him and Beckett. He almost sighs in relief as Aria gives a small bow of her head in Beckett's direction before responding pleasantly, "Of course, Commander Beckett, I'm glad to see your time in Richard's company has shown you how civilised beings speak to one another. Unlike some," at that Aria shoots a dark look at Sophia.

At the mention of Beckett's name from Aria suspicion makes its way through the relief at the diffusing of the situation and he asks suddenly, "Wait, Aria, how do you know who the Commander is?"

Aria turns to him and gives him an amused and slightly pitying look as she says, "Oh, Richard, your time away seems to have dulled your senses. Did you really think that I didn't know you were on the station let alone in the company of a famous Alliance soldier, an intelligence agent and a Council Spectre? Or that a prototype Alliance cruiser would dock here at Omega and I wouldn't know who each person was the moment they stepped off that ship and aboard the station. I'm disappointed, Richard, that you would think so little of me and my knowledge of everything that happens on this station."

"Then why did you looked surprised when you saw me just now?" he asked puzzled at what game Aria is playing.

"Because I was curious to know why the newest ship in the Alliance fleet was here, if it related to my business at all and why you were aboard?" Aria answers frankly and then gives a shrug of her shoulders. "I also thought I'd play a little game with you as punishment for not coming to see me the moment you came aboard. Let's just say it was my little joke with an old friend."

Castle shakes his head ruefully as he chides himself for forgetting how tricky Aria can be.

"If you are satisfied that we are not here for your _business_ , can we leave and take Telor with us?" asks Beckett, still calmly, as she sits forward with her forearms resting on her knees.

Disappointingly Aria shakes her head negatively and before she can say anything Castle adds his own appeal, "Aria, we really need to speak to him. Let us leave with him, for old time's sake, please?"

"Unfortunately I can't let you leave with Telor," says Aria in her best approximation of an apologetic tone. "It would send the wrong message to the people here on Omega if an Alliance team," she then nods respectfully towards Bau who returns it, "or a Council Spectre can just walk off with someone from my club and from under my very nose. However I will let you ask your questions of him here and now and who knows in my presence he might be more inclined to be forthcoming. Isn't that right, Telor?" she finishes in and ominous voice and fixing the Batarian with a pointed look.

A panicked look comes across the four eyed face of Telor and he stammers out, "Uh…of…of course, Aria. Whatever you say."

A smile that does not reach her eyes graces Aria's lips and she waves a hand in Telor's direction and says happily, "There you are, Richard, Commander, ask your questions."

Castle glances around at his companions, finishing with Beckett and she shrugs her armoured shoulders and he hears her mutter, "What the hell," before she turns to the Batarian and asks, "We need to know about your upcoming delivery to the Collectors. Where and when will it take place?"

There is silence for a moment as Telor's four black eyes widen at the mention of the Collectors and it is plain that the slaver is reluctant to talk about his mysterious clients. Eventually he says nervously, glancing at Aria as he does, "I can't tell you that. Even if it wasn't a breach of client confidentiality, the Collectors are unforgiving to those that cross them. I don't want to end up dead, or worse, as a subject of one of their experiments, which is what will happen if I tell you."

"Funny how that didn't seem to bother you when you were selling living beings to them for the same experiments. Just as long as you make a profit right?" says Sophia snidely clearly having found her voice again and not wanting to be left out.

"It's just business, human, nothing personal" Telor counters angrily. "However the Collectors tend to take things like breaches of confidence very personally."

"Look, Mr Telor," appeals Castle earnestly, sitting forward in his seat as he does so. "The Collectors have kidnapped thousands of innocent human colonists and we have got to stop them. If you can tell us where they are going to pick up your next shipment then we will have a chance to be there and do just that."

"What do I care about some stupid humans that don't have the good sense to stay in their own part of the galaxy and tell you where the Collectors are going to be? Why should I possibly care about such things?" asks Telor waving away Castle's appeal with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Because I tell you too, Telor," says Aria threateningly.

Telor's head rocks back at that and his shoulders droop as he says resignedly, "Alright, I'll tell you. I don't know the exact location yet. In a week they are due to contact me by the Extranet and let me know the coordinates of the exchange then. Once I have the location I have a three days to get the shipment there and exchange it for the payment that will be waiting for me."

"So how about instead of you making the delivery, when you receive the coordinates, you give them to us and we go in your place?" proposes Beckett.

The Batarian opens his mouth and Castle thinks that he might refuse but then he shoots a look at Aria, she gives him a slow nod and so he says, "Ok, I can do that. You just better stop them, human, otherwise they'll come after me for betraying them."

"If that is all settled and you have nothing else to ask of Telor here I think he can go," says Aria.

"Just make sure you send that message to the _New York_ as soon as you receive it Telor and don't even think of trying to run before then," now says Bau who had been silent until now.

"Oh, don't worry about that, Spectre Bau. Telor here wouldn't dream of leaving Omega without my permission. Would you Telor?" asks Aria piercing Telor as she does so with a significant look.

Telor shakes his head emphatically in responds, "No, no, no, of course not, Aria. I wouldn't leave. Not unless you say so."

A crocodile like smile on her face Aria says with faux pleasantness, "Well if that is all then?" and getting nods from those around her, "You can run along now, Telor. Just make sure to do as the Spectre says and get that message to them as soon as it comes in."

"Yes, Aria. Of course, Aria," says Telor quickly and just as quickly he is up, out of his seat and rushing out of the booth.

As Castle watches him scamper away he says to Aria gratefully, "Thank you for that, Aria. Without you here it would have taken a lot more work to get him to talk."

Now Aria waves away his thanks, "As you said, Richard. What are friends for?" Then she turns more fully towards him and says seriously, "However I have to warn you that for all his spinelessness Telor is not wrong. The Collectors are formidable and will not take kindly to you and your friends here turning up in place of Telor's shipment of slaves. I hope this ship you are on is as good as they say because if you aren't careful you might find yourself taking the place of the slaves that Telor was delivering and I for one would hate to see that."

"Don't worry, I've got Castle's back," says Beckett and Castle can hear a slight possessiveness in her confident voice as she says it.

The thin black arches that are tattooed above Aria's eyes instead of eyebrows rise in surprise as she turns and regards Beckett and her words and with a devilish gleam in her eye says, "Oh, I don't doubt you can look after Richard, dear. I just wonder who will watch your appealing backside while you are watching his?"

"I'll be watching Beckett's back, Aria. We're partners, it's what we do," Castle tells her.

Aria now looks between the two of them with a knowing look, "Partners is it. How interesting." She pauses for a moment regarding him and Beckett again with a wicked look in her eye but then her face becomes more businesslike and she says, "Well that aside for now, let me tell you that you are not the first little group that I have come across recently that are looking to stop the Collectors' raids on human colonies."

"What do you mean? What other group?" Beckett asks.

"Oh the group in question was here a couple of weeks ago is from an organisation that both the Alliance and the Council look upon with even more amity than they do my little empire. That disavowed human centric terrorist organisation otherwise known as Cerberus," Aria tells them and she is staring at Sophia as she says the name, Cerberus, which makes Castle think that Aria must know of Sophia's reason for being with them. As an expert on Cerberus.

"What did they want here on Omega?" asks Beckett who seems not to have noticed how Aria has now focused on the ACI Agent in their group.

Aria turns her attention back to Beckett and responds, "They were here on a brand new frigate looking for information on the Collectors just like you are."

"That must have been the Cerberus frigate that helped fight off the Collector attack on Horizon," Castle supposes to Beckett and she nods in agreement.

"I don't know about that but while they were here they also recruited some crew members and what was curious about that was that they were non-human crew members. Not something you'd expect from and organisation with a declared distrust of non-humans. Then again their atypical recruiting practices might have been due to who their Commander is," Aria tells them ending rather cryptically.

Too cryptically for Castle as he asks, "Ok, I'll bite. Who is their Commander, Aria?"

Now Aria looks between Sophia and Bau as she says significantly and a little smugly, "The Commander of the Cerberus frigate and leader of their efforts against the Collectors is none other than the first human Spectre, the acclaimed hero of the Alliance and the Battle of the Citadel, the supposedly dead, Commander Shepard."

* * *

 _Briefing Room – SSV New York – docked with Omega Station_

"What do you mean that you both knew that Shepard wasn't dead and is working with Cerberus?" Beckett demands of both Bau and Turner as she looks across the conference table at where they are seated.

It is the ACI Agent that responds, somewhat defiantly, as she says, "It was need to know, Commander, and it was decided that you did not need to know."

"Look at it from the point of view of both the Council and your own Alliance, Commander," now says Bau in a much more conciliatory tone than Tuner. "They spent years declaring Shepard a hero of the galaxy. Now he comes back from the dead and is working for an organisation whose main philosophy is totally hostile to the spirit of coexistence between humans and the rest of the galaxy that the Council and the Alliance are striving for. For these very reasons they couldn't let it be widely known that he is back or who he is currently working with."

"Are they sure it is Shepard or that he is really working with Cerberus? Could it be a clone or an android facsimile or just someone who's had surgery to look like him? And if it is him then from what Aria said it sounds like Shepard is doing what he did on the _Normandy_ when he was chasing the rouge Spectre, Saren. Putting together a team of specialists, regardless of their species, to take down the Collectors. Not something someone who works for Cerberus and their aversion for non-human, would normally do?" asks Castle from where he is seated beside her.

Turner nods her head, "Yes, they are sure it's him. Chief Williams on Horizon served with Shepard and she is adamant that it is him. He has also recently met with Admiral Anderson on the Citadel and again the Admiral, who was Shepard's old Commander, is sure that it really is Shepard and not a copy or someone pretending to be him. As for whether he is really working with Cerberus. The markings on the ship he is using are Cerberus and I have been able to confirm through some contacts that he is indeed working with them. They apparently brought him back to life somehow and so we suspect he feels beholden to them as a result."

Beckett looks at Castle and shares a disbelieving look with him just as Captain Montgomery speaks from the head of the table, "Embarrassment to the Council and the Alliance aside, I share Commander Beckett's view that we should have been told who is in charge of the Cerberus operation that, like us, is trying to stop the Collectors."

Bau turns to the Captain and nods his long tapered head in his direction, "Yes, Captain. However the fact that Commander Shepard is in charge of the Cerberus efforts against the Collectors should not take away from our own mission. Once the slaver, Telor, tells us where the rendezvous with the Collectors is we can go to the location and engage them. We need to plan well for this engagement because while you survived your last encounter with them you may not be so lucky a second time."

Montgomery sits back in his high backed chair and strokes his chin thoughtfully, nodding in agreement at the Spectre's words before saying, "You're right, Bau. As our resident expert on the Collectors I want you to work with myself and Commander Beckett on a plan of attack for when we do engage them."

"Of course, Captain. It is why I am here after all," responds Bau.

Beckett then has to restrain herself from either giggling or rolling her eyes as Castle raises a tentative hand as if in class before asking, "Uh, shouldn't we try contacting Shepard and this Cerberus group? Try working together towards stopping the Collectors. They are the ones that told us it was the Collectors doing this in the first place. If we work with them we might have a better chance of stopping the Collectors."

Beckett can see where Castle is coming from and privately agrees but she can also guess the response that follows as Turner says emphatically, "No. Alliance Command is adamant that we are to have nothing to do with Shepard or his Cerberus team. They want us to handle this ourselves without the 'help' of a terrorist organisation."

"I'm afraid she's right, Rick," adds Montgomery regretfully. "The Alliance would not want to be seen accepting assistance from Cerberus. They'd rather we'd fail than accept help from an organisation one of whose stated goals is the overthrow of the Systems Alliance Parliament."

"Humph," snorts Castle. "Well, let's hope we don't fail because of politics then."

Montgomery now looks around at those seated around the table before saying, "Well if that's all we'll keep fact that Commander Sheppard is alive and working with Cerberus secret though I doubt it will stay that way for much longer. Something like this rarely stays secret for long. Though I don't want to be totally in the dark about what Shepard and Cerberus are doing so I want you, Agent Turner, to use your contacts to try and find out what they are up to," instructs Montgomery and Turner nods in response. "In the meantime we'll await Telor's message. Beckett, you get together with Bau and start trying and come up with a plan for when we engage the Collectors. At 1600hrs tomorrow I want to meet with you both to go over what you've come up with."

"Yes, sir," Beckett answers with her own brisk nod of her head.

"Ok, people. Dismissed," commands Montgomery and everyone starts rising from their seats.

Beckett remains seated for now and reaches over to grab hold of Castle's forearm to stop him from rising as well while at the same time calling across to the Salarian Spectre, "Bau, I'll meet you down in the research lab on deck six in ten minutes, OK?"

"Alright, Commander," responds Bau and with a parting half bow before he leaves the room.

Beckett can feel Castle looking at her curiously as she waits for Captain Montgomery and Sophia Turner to also leave. He is not alone because Turner is openly eyeing the pair of them curiously as she slowly makes her way out of the room behind Montgomery. Beckett holds the dark haired woman's stare as she drags her feet out of the room but refuses to say anything until the double doors of the briefing room shut automatically behind the agent.

With them now alone Castle asks, "What is it, Beckett?"

Turning in her chair to face him and moving her hand from his arm, down until she is holding his hand, she can feel the blood rushing to her cheeks as some little embarrassment takes hold in her. Taking a deep breath to damp down her sudden disquiet, she looks into Castle's questioning blue eyes and says, "Castle, I'll leave for now any questions I have about you being friends with one of the most notorious gangsters in the galaxy but rest assured we will revisit it. Anyway, I'm going to be pretty busy over the next week planning the attack on the Collectors. There may not be much time for us….for us to see much of each other privately."

She is relieved to see a look of understanding and a small smile causing wrinkles around those same blue eyes as he says, "Of course, Beckett. I understand completely. In fact let me help. I'm a fast study and I've done a bit of research on the Collectors, more so since we found out they were involved. I think I can be of some small assistance."

Grateful for the offer but also seeing an opening for some of their usual teasing she quirks a smile at him as she says, "Only some small assistance? That doesn't sound like the ego filled Richard Castle I know."

Keeping the smile on his lips he responds playfully but with a slight darkening of his eyes as he says, "Oh, I think you'll find most thinks about me far from small, Kate. In fact most things about me tend to be on the _large_ side."

Beckett lets out a chuckle at that and ducks her head for moment letting her hair fall in front of her face. She then raises her head again to look him in the eye and she bites her bottom lip knowing the effect it has on him, because he told her once. Beckett sees that it has the desired effect as his eyes darken even further and now his cheeks seem a bit redder.

Remembering that she has Bau waiting for her she regretfully reigns in the arousal she is feeling and decides to get back to the other reason she held Castle back as she says, "Look, Castle, I'd appreciate the help. I'll speak to Bau and get you included but I wanted to ask you something else. Even with how busy we're going to be and despite what I said about there not being much of a chance for us to meet up privately I still want to see you. How about we set aside a night this week for a date? My treat this time."

Castle smiles widely at her and with a twinkle in his eye says, "I'd love to, Kate."

* * *

 _A/N: For those not familiar with the Mass Effect games Commander Shepard is the main character of the game and is who you play as during the game. As the events of this story parallel the story of Mass Effect 2 I feel I had to mention him here as he does have an overall effect on what happens even if we don't see him. While still separate the stories are connected._

 _Also a shout out to another Castle/Mass Effect story that the talented Shutterbug5269 has started, "Captain Beckett: Spectre". The one shot that he published a while ago, that is now the first chapter of his story, is one of the things that inspired me to write this story._

 _Thanks to you all for continuing to read this little tale._


	18. Chapter 18

_Disclaimer: Castle and Mass Effect are owned by others and not me._

* * *

 _Omega_

Richard Castle regards the large Elcor shopkeeper as it stands behind the counter on its four legs and is again reminded of how Elcor look like baby elephants without the trunk or giant ears. The grey skinned creature shifts slightly on its legs and the vertical flaps of skin on its face where you would think its nose is but are actually its lips ruffle as it huffs out a breath of exasperation.

"Frustration: human I am unable to sell you the items you want at the price you suggest. Stubbornly: I can give you to them at the price I have suggested and not for a credit less," says the Elcor in the deep, measured, almost bored sounding voice common to its race. Also common is the declaration before each sentence of the emotion they are conveying as they speak. Elcor communicate with their own kind with a lot of very subtle visual and phenomenal ques. Therefore when communicating with other races they feel they have to tell the other person what they are feeling so that they can fully comprehend what they are saying.

Castle looks up at the dark eyes of the creature, shutting out the bustle of the busy shopping district of Omega behind him as he gives the shopkeeper his best charming smile and says," Come on, there must be some wriggle room? I'm willing to pay a fair price for a guaranteed sale here. Human wine isn't to the taste of a lot of other races and last I looked there weren't that many humans on Omega. Here I am, a sure thing of a sale but only if we can come to an understanding on the price."

Not that price is really an issue for him what with his wealth. He just enjoys the game of haggling and knows that if he didn't at least put on a show of trying to negotiate down the price then he would lose all respect in the Elcor's eyes. He is here, on Omega, looking for something to take with him on the dinner date that Beckett has asked him on.

It may be old fashioned but he feels like it is not polite to turn up to a dinner date empty handed. So he came aboard the station looking for something to give to Beckett on their date and eventually found that this Elcor's shop just happened to sell, among other things, bottles of wine all the way from Earth. All the while hoping that they can have their date before they hear of the location of the rendezvous with the Collectors from the Batarian, Telor, and have to head off to that confrontation.

"Steadfastly: I am unable to lower my price any further. In justification: I have a hungry herd to feed," declares the Elcor.

Castle pauses and considers whether he should just accept the price he has been able to get the Elcor down to and take the wine, a rich Pinot from California. Then a rough, gravelly voice from behind him breaks him from his thoughts.

"I think you should give the human the price he wants, Harrot and I'm sure Aria would think so too," says the brown skinned and red jumpsuit wearing Batarian that Castle turns to see standing behind him along with another Batarian and a Turian.

"In surprise and fear: Of course, Bray, whatever Aria wants. Reluctantly: Human, I am willing to sell the items to you at the price you offer," responds the Elcor and even without what he said or nonverbal ques he can detect, Castle can tell just by looking at the shopkeeper that he is in fear of the trio behind him and who they represent.

The price the Elcor, Harrot, had been sticking to was actually fair and not wanting to cheat the creature, Castle looks quickly between the Batarian and the Elcor, holds up a hand in protest and says to both of them, "Oh, no it's fine. I may have gone overboard a bit with my negotiating position. The price this fine gentle-sentient suggests is more than fair and I'm happy to pay."

The Batarian steps forward so that he is standing between Castle and the Elcor and says menacingly into the face of shopkeeper, "No, Harrot here will sell you what you want at the price you offered. Won't you, Harrot?"

"With eagerness and fear: Yes, yes, Bray. I'll sell him the items at that price and I won't accept a credit more," responds Harrot.

The Batarian, Bray, turns around, faces Castle and says, "There you go, human. Pay Harrot what is agreed and let's be on our way. Aria wants to see you."

Bray has said that in a continuation of his menacing tone so that Castle audibly gulps with nervousness as he is stared at by the four eyes of the Batarian. Trying to maintain some semblance of cool, however, he nods and makes his way over to the terminal on the counter. Punching away at the touch screen he makes payment for the case of wine. Being careful to keep his body between the screen and Aria's henchmen he increases the amount of the payment to the amount that is actually the proper price for what he is buying. As he hits execute on the transaction he looks into the eyes of Harrot and gives him a small shake of the head, hopeful conveying to the Elcor that he should stay silent about how much he actually paid.

When he turns back around to face Bray the Batarian looks up at Harrot and says, "OK, then. Are we good now?"

There is a slight pause and for a moment Castle worries that the literal and frightened Elcor will reveal what he actually paid before Harrot says, "Nervously: We are good, Bray. Businesslike: I will have your purchase delivered to your ship by the end of the day, human."

"Alright, then let's go. We don't want to keep Aria waiting now do we?" says Bray to Castle a hint of pleasantness but still mostly with menace.

They then leave Harrot's Emporium with Bray leading Castle with the other Batarian and the Turian flanking him on either side as they walk. The Batarian leads him down a couple of decks and to a small, unassuming door. The only indication that there is anything special about this door is the armed Batarian standing guard outside it and the glowing sign above it that says 'VIP'.

Bray and the Batarian 'bouncer' share nods of recognition as Castle is led through the door and into the light and music filled but smaller version of the Afterlife Club. This, Castle recognises, is the exclusive, VIP area of Aria's club. A place where you are only allowed in at the specific invitation of Aria herself. He tries to remain calm as Bray and the two other henchmen lead him over to a booth where he can see the beautiful, purple skinned Aria sitting and waiting.

He shouldn't feel nervous, he rationalises, as he is led to the spare seat across the small round table from the Asari crime lord. Aria is his friend so he should have nothing to fear yet as he sits down and looks into the imperious stare of the woman he can't help but feel a bit uncertain as to why she has asked to see him. Somehow he doesn't think it is just for a catch up between old friends.

Aria cocks a tattooed eyebrow at him as she plainly detects his nervousness and with a quirk of a smile on her lips says smoothly, "Nice of you to join me, Richard."

Giving a significant look towards Bray and his escorts Castle shoots back, "I'm always happy to meet with you Aria, not that I was given a choice."

Aria smirks at that and then waves a dismissive hand towards her three people as she says, "That'll be all, Bray."

"Yes, Aria," responds the Batarian respectfully with a small bow and he and his two companions leave them.

Aria then indicates towards one of the two glasses on the table between them saying pleasantly, "Have a drink with me, Richard. I got that Scotch from Earth you like for just such an occasion."

Picking up the glass tumbler Castle sees that it indeed holds a golden liquid that looks and smells like the best single malt. He raises the glass in salute to Aria and she raises the glass she has picked up to mirror his toast. Together they each take a sip of their drinks and Castle is not surprised to find that Aria is telling the truth as the very fine and expensive single malt whisky passes his tastebuds and down his throat.

Giving a hum of appreciation he places the glass back onto the table as Aria does the same and he says, "Nice, but somehow I don't think you asked me here just to share a glass or two of Scotland's finest. Good though it is to have this chance to chat one on one I have a feeling there is something you specifically what to talk about, Aria?"

A look of mock hurt crosses Aria's face as she says, "Oh Richard, why so suspicious? Can't I just want to share a drink for old times' sake, as you humans say? You've become a lot more distrusting as you've gotten older. It must be the company you keep now, especially the company of a certain beautiful if cold Commander."

Shaking his head and chuckling, Castle takes another sip of his drink before answering, again not surprised that Aria has picked up in his feelings for Beckett, "The company I keep at the moment, especially Beckett, has nothing to do with it. It has more to do with the fact that I do know you and you would not have had your goons drag me down here if you didn't have something important to talk about. It you just wanted to catch up 'for old times' sake' you could have just sent me a message and I would have been here. No need for the escort."

Aria flashes an evil little smile at him, "Perhaps I was afraid that you would be so distracted with your current carnal obsession that you wouldn't come unless I made it a request you couldn't refuse."

Slightly annoyed at her description of his feelings for Beckett, Castle responds a little hotly, "My feelings for Beckett are not as tawdry as just a 'carnal obsession' as you put it. She is probably the first truly real woman I've met in a long time. I am interested in her in more ways than I ever thought I'd possibly be interested in a woman before now. Don't dismiss my feelings for her as some passing lust. I might have been like that when I was on Omega with you but I am a different man now and Beckett makes me want to be that different man. She is coming to mean more to me than anyone else in my life with the exception of my mother and Alexis."

The Asari regards him for a moment after his impassioned speech before saying calmly and with a hint of approval in her voice, "I like this new you, Richard, you seem a lot more confident and happy than when I saw you last. If this Commander Beckett is the one that has caused this change in you then I am happy for the both of you….So when's the happy day?"

Being in the process of taking a sip of his scotch Castle almost spits it straight out again at the playful question at the end there from Aria. Spluttering a bit he responds, "Uh..we…umm…It's still way too early to be talking about getting married, Aria…Yes, way too early."

Looking as if she can read his mind, which he's suspected she can, Aria reaches over to pat one of his hands reassuringly as she says, "Oh, not done the deed yet. Sorry to hear that. You know that Lissar, the dancer you hooked up with when you were here last, still works for me. Perhaps I should get her to speak to Commander Beckett on your behalf. Get her to tell the Commander how good you are in bed. Perhaps that will move things along for you and allow you to be more intimate."

Rolling his eyes at the mischievous glint in Aria's eye he responds emphatically, "Uh, no, Aria, thank you but I don't think so. If anything that would do more harm than good and you know it. Now as much as I like a good tease about my love life I am meeting with Beckett tonight and I have a few things to do before then so why don't you tell me why you really wanted to see me?"

Aria gives a small bow of her head at the seriousness of her tone as says in a more sincere tone, "Of course, Richard. I was only having a little fun but you are right, nice as it is to have a chance to chat, there is another reason why I had you brought here. Away from the prying eyes and ears aboard that Alliance cruiser you are on. Not all of the eyes and ears aboard have your best interests or the best interests of your mission at heart and I would hate for anything untoward to happen to you or your charming daughter, who I understand is also aboard."

"What do you mean, Aria? Do you mean to say that there is someone working for the Collectors aboard the _New York_?" he asks quickly, concerned at the implications of what Aria is suggesting.

"Oh, no, not for the Collectors. But there is someone aboard that ship that is not who they seem or is only working for who they say they are working for," Aria tells him cryptically.

He's getting a bit frustrated at the playing around from Aria, as much as he normally likes to play, but with the idea that there could be someone aboard the _New York_ that is a threat to those aboard, especially Alexis, Beckett and himself, then he has to know.

"Enough with being coy, Aria, a look that does not suit you at all I'll have you know. Who are you talking about that is such a threat?" Castle asks emphatically.

"Alright, Richard," responds Aria with a small shrug of her shoulders. There is another pause as Aria looks him in the eye before eventually asking, "How well do you know your old girlfriend, Agent Sophia Turner?"

* * *

 _Aboard a space station at an undisclosed location in the galaxy_

The Illusive Man reads the reports on the holo-screens suspended in the air in front of him, ignoring the view of the massive red sun that dominates the one wall of his otherwise bare and dark office beyond the screens he's studying. He takes a drag of his ever-present cigarette and then blows out the smoke forcefully. Everything is coming to a head.

Project Lazarus, the title given to the Cerberus team, led by the resurrected Commander Sheppard, are getting close to finding the Collector's home world and putting a stop to their attacks on the human colonies. So close in fact that the Collectors have taken extraordinary measures to try and stop them.

He reads the report about the recent attack by the Collectors on Sheppard's ship, the new _Normandy_ , that he and Cerberus spent a lot of time and credits building for the Commander. While Sheppard and his team of specialists were off the ship the Collectors attacked and boarded the _Normandy._ Despite the brave but futile resistance of the remaining crew the Collectors soon took the ship and proceeded to abduct most of those aboard. If it wasn't for the ingenuity of the ship's pilot, assisted by the _Normandy's_ experimental and illegal Artificial Intelligence, then the ship itself would have been taken by the Collectors.

As it was, with the rest of the crew taken, the pilot had been able to evade the Collectors, take refuge in the sealed engine core and break the ship free of the Collector's hold from there. As they'd made their escape the AI opened all the exterior hatches so that the atmosphere and any remaining Collector's aboard were jettisoned into space. So it was that Sheppard had returned to a mostly empty but intact ship and a burning desire to take revenge on the Collectors for taking his crew.

The Illusive Man shakes his head ruefully as he thinks that if the Collector's thought that Sheppard would be slowed down or put off after their attack then they are sadly mistaken. If anything them challenging Sheppard like this and kidnapping his people does nothing but give the Commander exactly the motivation he needs to attack the Collectors quickly and with as much devastating force as he can muster.

As he reads this he knows that the _Normandy_ is speeding its way towards the Omega-3 Relay and the home world of the Collector's beyond. He wishes Sheppard success and with that success will come benefits both obvious and subtle to Cerberus.

Then there is the Systems Alliance's effort to stop the Collectors, as he turns his attention to the latest report from Agent Tuner.

Looks like they have a lead on where a Collector ship might be and are just waiting for the final coordinates before heading there to engage them….interesting. While this won't interfere with Sheppard's mission the Illusive Man considers for a moment whether he should allow this.

On one hand while the _New York_ is busy engaging the Collector's in this part of the galaxy Sheppard is free to attack the Collector's base of operations without fear of interference from the Alliance. Also there is a good chance that, for all the skill of her crew and the advanced construction of the cruiser, that the Collectors will destroy the Alliance warship. Then if Sheppard and a Cerberus ship defeats the Collectors while the best and newest ship in the Alliance navy is destroyed by them that will show the galaxy the superiority of Cerberus over those fools in the Alliance.

However there is also a chance that the Alliance crew will defeat the Collector ship and perhaps learn how to find their home world as a result. If that happens and they show up just as Sheppard is engaging the Collectors then that could be an unwelcome distraction to the mission he has set Sheppard on. The Alliance may even prevent him from taking any technological bounty from the remains of any Collector technology that can be salvaged after the engagement not to mention taking away the media coup of Cerberus stopping the Collectors alone and without the 'help' of the Alliance.

Ha calculates that the odds are very small that the Alliance ship will defeat the Collectors or that it has enough time to interfere with Sheppard's attack. However he hasn't made Cerberus into one of the most feared and efficient terrorist organisations in the galaxy by discounting the odds, no matter how small they might be.

Decisive as ever he types out a quick message to Agent Tuner on the holographic keyboard in front of him. The gist of the message is that she is to take whatever steps necessary to ensure that the _New York_ fails in its mission against the Collectors. As he presses send on the now heavily encrypted message that will appear as an innocuous piece of spam in the Agent's email inbox, he is confident in the knowledge that Tuner won't let him down.

With this knowledge he is sure that Cerberus' plan, his plan, to stop the Collectors and show the galaxy that humanity won't be the easy prey of powerful and malevolent aliens will come to a successful conclusion. A conclusion that will also show that Cerberus is the true avatar of humanity's will in the galaxy.

* * *

 _SSV New York – In Transit – Terminus Systems_

Castle makes his way down the corridor towards the hatch that leads to Main Engineering and hopes that he is wrong. At first he refused to believe it when Aria told him that Sophia is a double agent, working for both Alliance Central Intelligence and Cerberus. However Aria had assured him that her sources were correct and that Sophia is indeed an agent of the Illusive Man.

He'd continued in his defence of the ACI Agent justifying any contact she might have had with Cerberus operatives were as part of her duties with the ACI gathering information on the terrorist organisation. Aria would not be swayed and insisted that the information that she's seen pointed to Sophia being a spy for Cerberus in the ACI.

He'd left the crime boss soon after and returned to the _New York_ not knowing what to think. Part of him didn't want to believe that, Sophia, someone that had meant quite a bit to him at one time, could be a traitor. Yet another part of him could not find any reason why Aria would lie about such a thing.

Confused he'd resolved to tell Beckett what Aria had told him to see what she thinks but the moment he stepped back aboard the ship he'd been swept up in the frenetic bustle of activity as the ship prepared to undock from Omega and head to the rendezvous with the Collectors. As he learned from Ryan, after running into the Lieutenant as he likewise hurried to his duty station, while he'd been meeting with Aria they'd received from Telor the coordinates of where the Collectors were due pick up his shipment.

Castle had still tried to talk to Beckett to tell her what Aria had told him about Sophia but she had been busy with her duties preparing the ship for its departure from Omega and for its upcoming confrontation with the Collectors. So still conflicted and half not believing what Aria has told him he has decided to seek out Sophia and get her side of the story. Not wanting Sophia also to be falsely accused if Aria is wrong without at least trying to get her side is also why he is looking to speak to her first without going to Roy directly with his information.

As the _New York_ speeds through space he has tracked Sophia down here to Engineering thanks to the ship's helpful if limited Virtual Intelligence, called unimaginatively in his opinion, Vi. Once he has found Sophia he is going to find out if Aria is correct because he is pretty sure he can get the truth from her, whatever that may be.

Of course he is not totally naïve. While he does hope for the best and that this is all some misunderstanding on Aria's part he also knows that if Aria is right then Sophia could be dangerous if confronted with what he knows. He hopes their past history together will mean that she won't harm him but as insurance he has sent a text message to Beckett's Omni-tool telling her where he is and who he is meeting with. That way if the worst does happen at least Beckett will know where to look. He also hopes that if worst comes to worst he can use his biotics to defend himself.

The large metal double hatch doors to engineering part before him and he walks casually inside the control space where banks of controls are being monitored and operated by the engineering crew on duty. On the other side of the room he can see another open hatchway through which he can see part of the large slightly glowing metal sphere that houses the Element Zero core. Walking with purpose he strides past the busy crew members, past Chief Engineer Perlmutter who thankfully does not spare him a glance from the data pad he is reading, around a corner of the room and into the smaller corridor there. This part of the room is empty and out of sight of the rest of those on duty there. At the end of the space there is a round open hatch in the deck with a ladder leading to a maintenance area below.

Castle carefully but as quickly as he can, makes his way down the metal ladder until his feet reach the bottom. He turns around and in the lower lighting down here he finds himself in a much more cramped space covered in pipes and conduits. From the map that Vi had showed him this space forms a horseshoe shape under the deck of the control room above and so he starts making his way along the tight, curved corridor, ducking from time to time to pass under a low hanging pipe.

Misgivings start churning in his gut as he thinks on the fact that Sophia should not be down here for any normal reason that he can think of. Therefore it is with these ever-growing misgivings and a sense of dread that he follows the curved corridor around hoping that he won't find what he thinks he'll find.

Not the most coordinated person at the best of times in this tight space with the numerous protrusions around he, of course, trips at one point and is put to his knees as a result of catching his foot on something. It is as he is getting back to his feet that he sees that the thing that tripped him is a human hand that he had missed seeing in the gloom of the maintenance space as it is hidden in shadow.

Crouching down he now sees that the hand is from the body of a young man in Alliance work coveralls that is mostly stuffed in a space under a group of conduits that run along the wall at shin height. The bright red blood running from the crewman's temple and the wide sightless eyes immediately tell Castle the man is dead even as he checks his neck for a pulse that is no longer there.

Sighing heavily he straightens back up and as he stands he bring up his forearm to activate his Omi-tool so that he can call for help. However, as he reaches his full height and before he can activate the device he feels the press of cold metal at the base of his skull that can only be the muzzle of a gun.

"Raise your hands where I can see them and turn around very slowly, Rick," comes the cool and familiar sounding voice of Sophia Turner.

Doing as he is told for once he slowly raises his hands and turns to face her. Once he has turned around he finds himself looking down the wrong end of the small black pistol that a similarly black jump suited wearing Sophia is pointing at his head.

"Well, Rick," says the dark eyed Sophia with a small twitch of an ironic smile on her lips. "Fancy meeting you down here."

* * *

 _The Hanger deck – at the same time_

Beckett watches as a pair of crew members load a crate of heavy weapons aboard the shuttle. As they secure it into place she makes a notation on the data pad she is carrying. Following the two crewmembers out of the shuttle and back onto the flight deck there is a reminder chime from her Omni-tool.

She had seen earlier that Castle had sent her a text message but until now she hadn't had a chance to read it. She assumes it is about whatever he tried to talk to her about earlier but which she had been able to stop from her duties at the time to hear. With the shuttle now loaded she thinks that she has the time to read Castle's message so she activates the device and brings up the orange holographic display as it is projected from the subdermal implant in her forearm.

Her eyebrows raise in consternation as she reads: _Am in the maintenance area beneath Main Engineering with Sophia Turner. If I don't send another message in ten minutes come looking for me and bring a gun._

Reading the time stamp from when he sent the message she sees that just over ten minutes have passed and she has received no message since his last one. A cold ball of ice forms in her stomach as she gets a very bad feeling about the fact that there has been no further message from him.

The sudden feeling of dread she has tells her that there is something very wrong so she quickly strides over to the nearby arming area, the place where she and her squad make their final checks before boarding the shuttle for planetside missions. Tossing the data pad onto the bench there she scoops up the M-5 Phalanx pistol that is resting on the same bench where someone was obviously working on it. Checking it quickly to make sure that it is operational and has a full thermal clip she now moves at a half jog out of the hanger deck through the hatch at its rear.

Still at a half jog she hurries down the corridor and as she does so she activates her Omni-tool once more taping away at the controls on the holographic gauntlet.

"Vi, what are the current locations and status of Richard Castle and Sophia Turner?" she asks of the ship's VI.

" _Mister Castle and Agent Turner are both currently in the maintenance area designated D10-15A beneath Main Engineering. Sensors detect active life signs from both subjects,"_ answers the always overly cheerful female voice of the VI.

Knowing that she is heading in the right direction and a little relieved that Castle is OK, for now, she taps at the controls of the Omni-tool again.

" _Esposito!"_ announces the voice from the comm unit in the device.

"Espo, have a fully armed security detail meet me in Main Engineering ASAP," she orders breathlessly as she continues towards Engineering.

There is only a very brief pause as she can imagine the surprise that Esposito must be feeling at the abrupt and out of the blue order. Yet clearly training kicks in as she next hears a business like, " _At once, Commander,"_ from the Marine.

Back-up called she deactivates the Omni-tool and continues on her way with an ever-building sense of urgency in her stride as she goes. Soon she is almost bursting through the double doors into engineering and her sudden arrival draws curious glances from several of the crewmembers working there.

One of those that make note of her seeming frantic arrival is Chief Perlmutter who makes his way over to her and says in his usual querulous voice, "XO, I told the Captain that I'd have those power projections to him by 1500hrs and not by a second more. Sending you down here to chase me up is not going to get them to him any quicker."

Initially nonplussed by the man's misinterpretation of her reason for being here she shakes her head to clear her thoughts before saying quickly, "I'm not here about that, Chief. Have you seen Castle down here?"

Now Perlmutter pauses clearly surprised by the question but before the man can answer a young female Engineer of Asian descent working at a nearby console chimes in with, "I saw him pass through here about ten minutes ago, Commander. He headed towards the hatch leading to the maintenance pit below."

Rounding on the young engineer Beckett asks urgently, "Have you seen him or anyone else come back from the direction of the maintenance pit since then?"

Startled by the level of urgency in Beckett's question the woman responds with wide eyes and a shake of her head, "No, ma'am."

Nodding grimly at the news she now strides with purpose towards the corner leading to the way down to the pit. Over shoulder as she goes she says to the puzzled Perlmutter, "When the security detail gets here send them down after me, Chief. In the meantime I'd have your people secure their stations and keep clear of the maintenance pit."

Not waiting for a response she continues on and after clearing the hatch and the base of the ladder in the light of the small flashlight that is part of the muzzle of her pistol, carefully makes her way down the ladder. Reaching to bottom as quietly as she can she immediately raises her pistol and searches the immediate vicinity for any threats. Seeing nothing in the light of the gun's flashlight she now makes her way one quiet step at a time down the curving corridor.

She knows she should have waited for the security detail before coming down here but again something in her gut is telling her that there is not enough time for her to wait for back-up. Then, as she is about a third of the way down the left curving corridor, she sees a glow of brighter light from ahead. Not wanting to give herself away she turns of the light on her pistol and then proceeds slowly towards the light ahead.

"What are you doing, Sophia?" Beckett is relieved to hear Castle asks from just ahead of her.

Pausing just before where she can see that the light is brightest she cranes forward to peer around the curve of the corridor as she hears Agent Turner reply, "These conduits lead from the hull to the main electrical storage sinks. As you know, Rick, when a ship passes through a Mass Relay a massive amount of electrical energy is generated. Ships have to store that energy until it can be safely discharged at their next planet fall or the next time they dock at a station. What I am doing here is adding some micro explosive devices that are activated by electrical impulses to the conduits."

With just one eye around the corner Beckett can now see Castle, bound and on his knees just a couple of meters away and between him and her Turner is bending over and fixing the aforementioned explosives to several thick conduits running from the deck to the roof of the area where they are.

Straitening up Turner turns her back on where Beckett is and walks towards where Castle is kneeling as she continues with her casual sounding explanation, "When this ship passes through the Mass Relay electrical energy will pass through these conduits and trigger the explosives. Now these explosives aren't big enough to do more than rupture these conduits but that will be enough."

Beckett sees a look of realisation and horror appear on Castle's face as he continues with, "With the path to the sinks broken electrical energy will start building up throughout the ship. It will build up so much that it will fry everyone and everything aboard until it eventually causes the Ezo core to breach, destroying the ship."

Turner nods in confirmation of Castle's words and having reached him crouches down until she is eye to eye with him. Putting a finger under his chin so that he will look he in the eye she says, "Just so. Of course I intend to be long gone before that happens. As soon as we are done here there is a nearby escape pod with my name on it that I fully intent to use just before this ship engages with the Relay. While I am being picked up by a Cerberus ship what is left of this ship and everyone aboard will arrive at its destination as a cloud of debris."

Anger that mirrors what Beckett is feeling at the traitorous Sophia Turner's words now appears on Castle's face as he declares furiously, "My daughter, not to mention hundreds of others are aboard this ship. I'm not going to let you murder them."

An aura of blue energy flashes briefly around Castle's kneeling body as he clearly tries to use his biotics to attack Sophia but to Beckett's surprise the glow disappear quickly and Castle gasps in pain and shock. Seeing Castle in pain almost has Beckett leaping forward to attack Sophia but she has to make sure that the woman doesn't have another way to detonate the explosives she just planted. While small, in such a confined space they are sure to injure perhaps kill anyone as close to them as Castle currently is.

Laughing Sophia rises to her feet and looks down with mock pity at the gasping Castle and indicates to the metal rings binding his feet and hands and says gloatingly, "Sorry, Rick. Those binders you're wearing are experimental ACI tech designed specifically to subdue biotics. They interfere with the transfer of energy between the dark energy nodes in your body and your biotic implants. Oh a really powerful biotic might be able to overcome them but a limited one like you is no problem. While you have them on you are normal just like the rest of us."

His chest heaving Castle asks, "Why are you doing this, Sophia? Why Cerberus?"

The black, curly haired woman scoffs, "Really, Rick. Have you seen the mess the Alliance is making of things? The way they bow to every single whim of the Council races? At least Cerberus know how to put humanity's interests first. It started when I was assigned to find information on them. Soon I realised that I shared a lot of the ideals with the organisation that I was tasked to help bring down. Now, as ACI's 'expert' on Cerberus I'm in the perfect place to divert the Alliance's efforts against them."

There is another pause and then Sophia pulls a small pistol with a silencer from a pocket of her jumpsuit and, to Beckett's horror, points straight at Castle's head saying with a hint of regret, "I'm truly sorry but I can't leave you alive to warn anyone. Goodbye, Rick."

Disregarding the explosives now Beckett steps forward with only one thought on her mind, save Castle.

Looking down the sight of her gun at the head of Sophia Turner, Beckett calls out, "Drop the gun, Turner."

In the blink of an eye Sophia has whipped around and before Beckett can even think of pulling the trigger she is looking straight down the barrel of Sophia's weapon.

As the two women face off against each other over the sights of their guns Sophia gives a wry grin and says, "Well, Commander Beckett, so glad you could join us. I suppose it is fitting that you are here. One of the reasons I was sent aboard this ship was to get close to Rick so that I could learn what he knows. With our past, very intimate relationship I thought it would be easy to get close to him again. Little did I know how wrong I was seeing as how smitten he is with you. Now that you are here I ca…"

Focused on the woman in front of her as she is Beckett is surprised as Sophia Turner suddenly goes crashing to the desk at her feet. In her place there stands Castle with the remains of the metal rings hanging from his wrists and Beckett can guess that he somehow was able to get to his feet while Sophia was distracted and then bashed Sophia on the back of the head his bindings.

Tossing the broken rings onto the unconscious body of Sophia Turner Castle says, "Looks like I don't need to be a biotic after all to shut her up."

* * *

 _A/N: There you go. Sophia's treachery has been revealed. We are getting near the business end of this but more is definitely still to come._

 _Thanks for reading._


	19. Chapter 19

_A/N: This chapter is where the story earns its M rating. If such things do not interest you it is possible to skip this chapter and you will not miss any major plot developments of the story._

 _Disclaimer: Castle and Mass Effect belong to others. I'm just having a bit of fun with their characters and universes._

* * *

 _SSV New York – In Transit – Terminus Systems_

Castle tries to tamp down the butterflies that have developed in his stomach with every step he takes closer to Beckett's cabin. He tries to tell himself that the reason he has almost dropped the bottle of wine he is carrying a couple of times is because condensation has made it slippery and not because he has hands that are slightly sweaty from nerves. Of course he ignores the fact that as it is a bottle of red wine he is carrying and, being at room temperature like it is, there is no condensation on the bottle.

The reason why he feels like a high school boy about to take his crush to the prom is that he is about to meet up with Beckett for the long delayed date that she promised him back when they were on Omega. What with the necessary preparations for their upcoming encounter with the Collectors and then the dramatic reveal of Sophia's treachery and the distressing confrontation with the double agent, there had not been a chance until now for Beckett and him to have their date.

Now with most of the preparations complete, Sophia safely secured in the ship's brig and still about a day's worth of travel ahead of them the crew has been able to spare themselves a few hours, at Captain's Montgomery insistence, for some much needed personal time. Time that everyone is sure to need before the upcoming battle.

The reminder of Sophia currently languishing in a cell in the bowels of the _New York_ reawaken the feelings of betrayal and depression that he has been feeling since the encounter in the maintenance pit and until now. A part of him still can't believe that a person that he had strong feelings for in the past could turn out to be a traitor. That he couldn't see that see that she was really working for Cerberus all the time they were together has him doubting himself and his trust and faith in others.

Oh, part of him knows that as a highly skilled and trained spy Sophia being able to hide her true intentions from others are part and parcel of who she is but still another part of him thinks that he should have been able to see past all that and know who and what she truly is. Not even a few consoling words from Alexis or even Beckett had been able to shake the feeling deep down that he should have known about Sophia's true allegiance all along.

Then as the opportunity for this delayed date with Beckett had materialised his discontent with himself over the situation with Sophia had been overwritten with the nerves as the importance of this date and what it could mean for the future relationship between himself and Beckett. That this date could be a significant step forward in their relationship had been hinted to him by the gorgeous Commander when she'd told him, with a distinct and adorable blush to her cheeks, that the date would be taking place in the privacy of her quarters.

Castle tries not to read too much into that, into the location that Beckett has chosen. Perhaps he should just take what she said on face value and that she just wanted to have their date in private and away from the prying and gossiping eyes of the rest of the crew. Then again, he'd thought, if she wanted privacy there were a couple of places, admittedly not many on the crowded warship, where they could have their date in private. So having the date in the intimate setting of Beckett's cabin seems to promise something to him that he can barely believe is possible now given how negatively she seemed to view him when they first met.

However, the disheartened feelings he's had about Sophia are still with him as he arrives at the door to Beckett's cabin and he presses the control at the side of the door to announce his presence. Seconds later the door slides open and he is greeted with a nervously smiling Beckett.

"Hey, Castle. Come in," Beckett says to him with a breathless voice that portrays both pleasure at seeing him and nerves at the possibilities of this evening.

The dark introspection he is still feeling about his former lover in the ship's brig must show on his face as he steps into Beckett's cabin at her invitation because a small frown and a look of concern appears on her face as she asks, "You OK, Castle?"

Sighing he turns from his eager inspection of the small cabin with its desk, larger than average clothes locker, a small round table with two chairs that has dinner already laid out on it and the small double bed at the far end of the room.

Looking back into her now worried looking face he considers keeping what is bothering him from her but quickly decides to be somewhat honest with her as he says, "Oh, it's nothing, Beckett. Still smarting at being played the fool by Sophia I guess."

Beckett takes a step towards him and places a consoling hand on his bicep as she says, "You weren't a fool for being believing in the best in someone, Rick, especially someone you have a past with. That's who you are and one of the things I like about you. Anyway, Sophia made fools of a lot more people than just you. The Director of the ACI would barely believe Captain Montgomery's report of her attempted sabotage or admissions of working for Cerberus. There are a lot of high-powered and intelligent people out there who are currently smarting over their misguided trust in Sophia Turner so you have nothing to be ashamed of for believing in her. She's clearly a master manipulator and unfortunately you got caught up in her web of lies and deceit. Try to find some solace, at least, in the fact that you helped stop her from doing any more damage, including saving everyone on this ship from certain death at her hands. You should be proud of that because that is not the action of a fool but of a hero in my eyes."

Castle gives a small smile of gratitude at her words and resolves to do as she says as he responds with a subdued, "Thanks, Kate, but you stopped her as well. So let's just call it a team effort." And seeing the small blush appear on her cheeks at the use of her first name he decided to diffuse the glum atmosphere he has created by saying in his more usual upbeat and cheerful tone, holding up the bottle of wine in his hand, "So, I hope the meal you've prepared goes with red because I wasn't able to get any white when we were on Omega."

Beckett returns his smile, releases his arm and leads him towards the small table that has their meal laid out on it. As she takes the couple of steps towards the table he takes a moment to admire the very off-duty clothes she is wearing for him. A figure hugging black dress that ends at mid-thigh at the bottom while the top is a halter that has very deep vees both front and back revealing tantalising expanses of golden skin.

At the slight sway of her hips as she approaches the table Castle can feel a tightness in both his throat and areas lower down as his introspection and nerves are banished by clear arousal at the sexy sight before him. Smoothing his hand though his hair to both make sure it is in place and to calm some of his arousal he follows Beckett to the table and passes the bottle of wine to her outstretched and seeking hand. He's glad the he is wearing one of his smarter navy blue suits with a slightly lighter blue shirt. The colour, he is assured by his daughter, bring out the colour of his eyes.

"Well, I'm sure the meal I was able to get Cookie to prepare for us will go with the wine regardless of whether it would or not. Anyway the food and wine don't matter it's the company that's the most important thing. Wouldn't you agree, Rick?" Beckett says pleasantly to him as she uses an old fashioned corkscrew to open the bottle.

"Oh, indeed, Kate. The company, especially company as beautiful and engaging as you is truly the most important thing," agrees Castle giving her a significant look in the eye as he says it.

She smiles happily back at him and there is a loud 'pop' as she draws the cork from the bottle. Soon she has filled to wine glasses with the deep red liquid and is passing one of them to him.

She then holds her glass and toasts, still with a small smile on her lips, "To the night."

Mirroring her smile he returns her toast, "To the night."

They then have an extremely pleasant and relaxing time having dinner together, sitting close to each other around the small table that Beckett had set up in her cabin. For Castle the meal is good but the company is even better yet as time passes the tension and attraction between them grows until it becomes palpable.

At the end of the meal, as they each sip on the wine he'd brought, Beckett looks at him over the rim of her glass with hooded eyes and to him it feels like someone has turned the heating up in the room several degrees. The sexual energy between them has developed as they both know where this night will end yet now that they have reached that point Castle admits that he finds himself feeling a tad nervous again. That in of itself tells him how important Kate is to him because never before, with perhaps the exception of his first time all those years ago, has he felt this level of nerves before sleeping with a woman.

The way Kate's eyes duck away from their scrutiny of his face and her nervous biting of her bottom lip as she does so tells him that she is feeling the same way he is. He racks his brain for something to put them both at ease and when inspiration strikes he calmly and decisively puts down his wine glass, stands and holds out his hand to Kate.

"Dance with me, Kate," he offers softly.

She looks up at him, gives him a small smile, takes his hand and stands but as she does she counters playfully, "But there's no music."

Releasing her hand for a moment he quickly activates his Omni-Tool implant in his left forearm and a few taps later soft, soulful jazz music is playing in the room.

Deactivating the device, taking back her hand and then looping his other around her waist, drawing her close, he says, "Now there is."

She gives him a beaming white smile as she nestles into him with one hand in his and the other resting lightly on his shoulder. They look into each other's eyes at first as they slowly move in time with the music. Eventually their bodies are drawn even closer together and soon they are swaying together with Kate's head resting on Castle's shoulder.

It is after the there is a pause when the third song finishes when Kate raises her head from where it has been nestled to look up into his and they hold each other's gaze for what seems like forever to Castle.

Eventually Kate breaks the silence between them as she reaches up to cup the side of his face with her hand as she says quietly, "When Sophia was threatening you in Engineering I was afraid I was going to lose you, Rick. I realised that I couldn't live with the idea of something happening to you. You've come to mean so much to me in such a small amount of time."

Smiling and trying to give her a reassuring look he responds just as quietly, "You mean everything to me as well, Kate. And I'll do everything I can to make sure that you never lose me as long as you do the same. Deal?"

Smiling back at him she gives a small single nod, "Deal."

She then drops her hand from his face to around his neck and gradually, imperceptibly their faces get closer and closer until the moment happens that he has been waiting for ever since he laid eyes on the beautiful and feisty Commander. Their lips touch and then move together in a kiss that removes all other thoughts from his mind as he focuses solely on the spark, the heat and the just plain rightness of the feeling of kissing Kate Beckett. It doesn't take long for the kiss to deepen as it is her tongue that first runs over his lips seeking an entrance that he is more than happy to provide.

The heat between them grows and grows as their hands start to wander over their bodies and their feet shuffle towards the nearby bed. All the while not breaking the connection of their lips and now battling tongues. As Castle feels the back of his legs make contact with the end of the bed he is the one to break their kiss only to start peppering kisses along her jaw to her ear until he reaches the pulse point on her neck where he uses his lips and tongue to draw a breathless moan from the woman pressed hard against him.

Soon their hands are busy at ridding them of the fabric that separates their bodies as Castle draws down the zip at the back of Kate's dress while she shucks his jacket from his shoulders and then starts to tug impatiently at the buttons of his shirt. She pauses for a moment once the zip is all the way down her dress and is looking at him with an evil glint in her eye as she takes a step back and shrugs her shoulders. With that the dress slips to the ground and his eyes are drawn from Kate's eyes to the stunning sight of her lithe, golden skinned body dressed only now in the briefest of black lace panties.

Castle is somewhat dumfounded at the stunning sight before him and is still trying to truly process it when Kate lunges towards him and makes short work of removing his belt and pants. With a final tug of his shirt, sending the last of the buttons skittering across the floor, he is then standing in just his boxers but he is not standing for long.

Again with an evil grin but with lust and heat in her eyes Kate forcefully pushes him on his chest so that he is falling back onto the bed behind him. She follows almost pouncing on him like some lust filled feral creature and soon he is covered by her, their mouths clashing again in ever building passion as her bare breasts press to his bare chest. Again their hands roam in their task to seek out the flesh of each other. Kate's hands are entwined in his hair when his broad hands grip her buttocks through the flimsy lace of her panties.

She rises up at that and gives a lusty moan of, "Castle!" and as her back arches above him he takes advantage of the conveniently placed breast in front of his face. He starts kissing each breast in turn which soon leads to sucking on a very prominent nipple.

As his lips pay worship to her chest her breathless moans increase in frequency and volume but her hands are busy at the same time. Occupied as he is he barely registers at first her removal of his boxers from his hips but when he does he pauses for a moment in what he is doing to draw her own panties from her hips as well. A few wriggle and shuffles latter and they are then both naked with her laying on top of him and looking down at him with as much heat and affection as he is surely looking up at her with.

Their mouths come together again in another soul searching and passion filled kiss and he can feel himself hard against her tensing thigh as her hips undulate above him. Part of Castle want to take his time tasting every exquisite part of Kate put another is impatient for them to be as close as two people can be and he can sense, from the way she is moving above him, that Kate is feeling the same way. Knowing that now is the time he draws a surprised and excited squeak from Kate as he quickly flips them so that they reverse their positions and she is beneath him now lying in the cradle of her thighs.

Again they pause as he looks down at her and with her hair splayed out on the mattress beneath her, her sparkling eyes and flushed skin he knows he hasn't seen anything more beautiful. She reaches up with a tender hand, cups his cheek and then draws his face back down to continue the joining of their lips and tongues. Their bodies move and entwine together until what feels like the most natural thing happens and they join. They both break from their kiss to gasp as they press together fully and they both still for a moment as they revel in the feeling of him inside her.

Their stillness is short lived however as soon they start moving to together slowly that builds and builds in frequency while also continuing to kiss and caress each other. The pants, gasps and moans from each of them become louder and more rapid as they each strive closer to their joint release.

At one point it is Castle's turn to be surprised as in the heat of their passion Kate uses a move that he's sure she didn't learn as part of her N7 training as she flips them so that she is now on top and riding him towards their climaxes. And so it is that as their passion reaches its crescendo they both reach their peak at virtually the same time with perhaps Kate reaching her release just moments before Castle.

Panting and sated, their sweaty bodies entwined with Kate's draped languorously over Castle's they can feel their rapidly beating hearts thumping in each other's chests as they lie pressed together as they slowly come down from the intensity of their love making. At some point Castle manages to raise a still shaky arm to push the hair away from the perspiring face of Kate as she rests her head next to his on his shoulder. Looking into her flushed face she looks straight back at him with a small contented smile on her face.

His chest still heaving from effort, his brain still mostly goo thanks to the sheer pleasure he just felt and the sheer depth of feeling his has for this woman draped across him has him at a loss for words though he does eventually to say an awestruck, "Wow!"

Kate's smile grows wider and the red of her flushed cheeks deepens as she responds, "Yeah, Wow!"

* * *

 _A/N: So this is the first time I've written any M-rated content, I hope it was OK. People who have played the Mass Effect games and Bioware games in general know that at a certain point of the game, usually just before the final battle, the couple you have been romancing (if you've gone down that path with your characters) end up having some bedroom fun. So it is natural in terms of the game that they would sleep together now and I hope it makes sense for Castle and Beckett at this stage of the story and where their relationship is as well._

 _As this little interlude suggests the big final battle follows. Thanks for reading._


	20. Chapter 20

_Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or Mass Effect though it might seem like people waited for this chapter for as long as we have been waiting for Mass Effect: Andromeda._

* * *

 _SSV New York – In Transit – Terminus Systems_

Castle's eyes open to the unfamiliar yet not unpleasing sight of Beckett's cabin as he lies on his back on Beckett's bed, naked except for a sheet covering to lower half of his torso. Memories of what was perhaps one of the most sensual and satisfying connections he's ever had with another person fill his mind. The distinct smell of his partner in those memorise still permeates his senses yet he is a little disappointed to not feel the presence of his lover in the bed beside him.

The light thud of a boot hitting the deck has him raising his head to find his absent bed mate standing at the foot of the bed. His distress over Beckett no longer being in the bed with him is now added to with the sight of her now fully clothed in her working day uniform.

"Oh good, you're awake," Beckett says in a hushed tone while giving him a small, almost shy looking smile.

Still a little befuddled with sex induced sleep Castle responds with, "So are you and you're dressed?"

"I got a notification from Tory that we're an hour out from the rendezvous so while I'd like to spend the rest of the day relaxing in bed with you, duty calls," Beckett tells him matter-of-factly.

Sitting up now, the sheet pooled at his waist he scratches his head and feels that his hair is somewhat dishevelled and sticking up in different directions. He watches as Beckett bends down to secure the fastening on one of her boots and is more than interested in the appealing sight of her butt in the tight blue uniform as it now points at him. From where she is Beckett must see his ogling of her assets because the next thing he knows he is hit in the face with the shirt he hand on the night before.

"No time for sightseeing, Castle. Time to get up and dressed. We've both got a big day ahead," comes Beckett's teasing voice from beyond his shirt obscured vision.

Snatching the garment from his face he sees Beckett now standing upright and looking down at him with a teasing smirk on her lips but yet with an affectionate look in her eyes.

Returning her smirk he shrugs his shoulders but he decides that he isn't quite ready to let go of the wonderful night he just shared with this gorgeous woman and so he says sincerely, "I loved last night, Kate."

A slight pinkness appears on Beckett's face and she ducks her head for a moment before looking back up, straight into his eyes and says just as sincerely, "I did too, Rick."

There is a brief, meaningful silence between them that is interrupted by a chime from the comm unit on the nearby desk followed by the voice of Yeoman Ellis saying, " _Commander Beckett, please report to the Captain in CIC!"_

Not breaking eye contact with Castle Beckett calls over her shoulder, "Acknowledged! I'm on my way."

Taking that as a que, Castle leaps from the bed, shrugging on his shirt while also looking around for the rest of his clothing that Beckett had unceremoniously divested him of last night. Seeing his pants not far away he makes his way over to them and says to Beckett as he does so, "You better not keep Montgomery waiting, Beckett. I'll get dressed and be right behind you."

Straightening up from bending down to pick up his pants he finds that Beckett has stealthily moved right up to him so that they are standing toe to toe, chest to chest. The next thing he knows Beckett's arms are around over his shoulders and her sweet tasting lips are pressed to his in a kiss full of heat and passion that lasts long but not long enough in Castle's opinion.

Then just as quickly as she appeared in front of him she has released him and is sauntering away throwing over her shoulder at the, no doubt, befuddled and smitten expression on his face, "Hurry up, Castle. I don't want to go into battle without my partner."

Then before he can even comment on the whole 'partner' label and what that means both personally and professionally for them the door to her quarters are closing as she disappears from his view.

It is a little while later, after a quick stop at his quarters for a change of clothes, because what he wore the night before aren't exactly suitable for the day ahead of them, that he joins Beckett and Montgomery at a station at the edge of the CIC. As he approaches them he takes note of the serious faces both of them wear and while, with the coming encounter with the Collectors, he expected them to be serious there is something that he can't quite put his finger on that tells him there is something more to the grimness of the atmosphere between Beckett and her Captain.

Not wanting to wait for his curiosity to be satisfied he asks as he arrives at Beckett's side, "What's wrong?"

Beckett and Montgomery share a look before Montgomery gives a small nod if his head, clearly giving permission for Beckett to tell him what has them both so concerned.

"We've just received a report from Alliance Intelligence. Seems that they did send it to us days ago but Turner never passed it on. Now that she's in the brig we've re-established proper contact with ACI and this report is one of the first ones we got from them. Its contents are concerning to say the least," Beckett starts explaining to him.

"What's in the report that has you two so worried?" prompts Castle.

"The planet that Telor gave as the location of the exchange with the Collectors is supposed to be uninhabited but the report from ACI tells us differently. Apparently only two days ago an expedition of human colonist landed on the planet in question with the intention of setting up a colony," Beckett tells him ominously.

Surprised and now seeing the reason for Beckett and Montgomery's concern he asks, "But the exchanges with the Collector's always take place where no one is around because the Collectors want it that way. Wouldn't have Telor's people have seen the colony and contacted the Collectors to call it off?"

It is Montgomery that shakes his head as he answers, "The colonists arrived after Telor's people left their shipment of the planet's surface. We've contacted him and he insists that he didn't know that a ship load of humans were going to set up home on the same world where the exchange is to happen. The fact that the Collector's haven't contacted him to call off the exchange tells us that either they don't know about the colony or they do and they see it as an opportunity to abduct some more humans for whatever nefarious reasons they have been taking the other humans they've been taking."

"How many people are on that colony ship?" Castle asks in a concerned tone.

"Three hundred, with a fair percentage of them being families with children," Beckett answers with dread at the mention of children being in harm's way.

Castle immediately thinks that, because they don't want to let the Collector's know that they are on their way to intercept them, there is a chance that Montgomery hasn't warned the colony of the imminent arrival of the hostile aliens so he looks desperately at Montgomery and says, "You've got to contact them and tell them to get off that planet."

Holding up a placating hand Montgomery responds, "I spoke to the Captain of the colony ship myself, Castle, but unfortunately they can't leave the planet. At least not in time before the Collectors are likely to get there. Their ship is a converted _Asterius_ class modular freighter. As is common, when they landed on the planet they started to immediately disassemble the ship so that its various modular sections could become the first buildings of the colony. On top of that the engine core of the ship has been disconnected from the engines and is being used to power the colony. With their ship in pieces they can't get off the planet in time."

Beckett continues the explanation, "Now that the Captain has warned them they're trying to reconnect the core to the engines and reassemble enough of the ship for it to be space-worthy. Fortunately they haven't been on the planet long enough so that they ship is completely disassembled but their Captain estimates it will take at least twelve hours before they are able to lift off. Besides a couple of small shuttles, that will hold twenty people max, there is no other way off the planet for them."

"As a last resort the Captain is preparing to send off as many of the younger children as she can in the shuttles at the first sign of the Collector's entering the system," adds Montgomery.

Now that their mission has become all that more desperate Castle asks, "How long before we get there?"

Montgomery glances at the clock in the corner of the holographic screen on the station they are standing beside before answering with, "We'll be entering orbit in forty-five minutes. I'm just about to put the ship at battle stations. When we get there, if the Collectors haven't beaten us, we will take a defensive position over the colony and when the Collectors arrive we will engage them immediately to prevent them from landing. It'll be a tough fight and I've put in a call for assistance from any nearby allied ships. The nearest is a Turian flotilla on patrol on the border with Council space however it will be at least seventeen hours before they get here."

"And what if the Collector's beat us there and are already on the surface attacking the colony?" Castle asks pointedly.

"Then using the tech and biotic countermeasures we got at the Citadel to defeat their stasis drones we'll deploy everyone that can carry a rifle onto the surface to defend the people of that colony and stop the Collectors from taking them," Beckett tells him with determination.

Looking over Beckett's shoulder at the large holographic map of the galaxy in the centre of CIC and in particular at the red blinking representation of the planet that is their destination Castle says, "Either way I hope we can stop them."

* * *

 _Volorus 2 – Terminus Systems_

Beckett looks up from checking her rifle and tries to dampen the nerves and feelings if uncertainty that always creep into her mind just before going into action. As she stands at the open hatchway between the main passenger compartment and the shuttle's cockpit she looks over the armoured bodies that are crammed into the ship.

Unfortunately they were still five minutes out from Volorus 2 when they'd received the start of a transmission from the fledgling colony that had been abruptly cut off, jammed their equipment told them. Cut short though it was they still got enough to know that the Collector's had arrived at the planet.

So it was, when the _New York_ entered orbit, their sensors showed that the Collector ship had landed on the surface of the planet, right on top of the colony. With the Collector ship so close to the colony they could not risk engaging it with the cruiser's ship to ship weapons. Therefore Captain Montgomery had wasted no time in ordering every shuttle in the ship launched, fully loaded with as many armed crew members as they can carry and that could be spared from the ship.

Turning so that she can look out the front view port of the cockpit Beckett can see the two blue flares that are the engines of the lead of _New York's_ half flight of fighters that is escorting the assault to the surface. She only hopes that they all make it to the surface in one piece because something tells her that she is going to need every soldier she has to stop the Collectors.

Someone bumps into her back, breaking her contemplation out of the viewport and so she turns to find a large, blue and gold armoured figure standing close behind her. Even through the armour and full face plate of his helmet Beckett can sense the concern radiating from Castle as he stands there looking squarely at her.

For a fraction of a second she contemplates reaching out to him to give him a hug for one last bit of comforting human contact between them but she remembers just as quickly that they are not alone. No, they are in a tightly packed shuttle heading towards a battle for their very lives and the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians. It would not do the morale of her troops any good to see their Commander seeking such comfort before they all head into such a desperate fight.

She can't totally resist, however, from reaching out and giving him a reassuring squeeze of his arm at the gap between the sections of his armour between his elbow and upper arm. His helmeted head dips in acknowledgement of the gesture and briefly he turns his arm so that his hand can grip her arm. They hold their grip of each other for a few seconds before she hears Castle's deep and calm sounding voice in her helmet saying, " _It'll be alright, Beckett_."

She huffs into her helmet in wonder at the fact that here she was trying to reassure him and this man is trying to do the same for her despite the disquiet she knows he must be feeling at the impending battle. She knows he is feeling this way because she feels the same herself. If there is one thing that she has learned during Castle's time with her is that they both seem to know how the other feels and often feel the same emotions or have the same thoughts in given situations. An example is the way they finish each other's sentences sometimes which she'd been uncomfortable with at first and which Esposito called creepy whenever it happened in front of the burly Major.

Shaking her head she marvels again at finding such a caring and likeminded man in her life. She never thought that she would share such an intimate connection with a man let alone find one that would put up with her walled off personality. Yet here Castle is, standing before her and ready to go into battle at her side despite being a civilian and not a trained soldier.

At that moment a tight knot of fear grips her belly at the thought of something happening to Castle. Part of her wants to tell him to stay on the shuttle and not join them in the coming battle because she can't, especially now, stand the thought of losing him. But another part of her wants him with her as she heads into the fray because again after such a short time together she can't stand the thought of him not being with her, fighting right alongside her.

Looking up at the polished, slightly opaque surface of his helmet's face plate she can just make out his blue eyes through the clear composite and she says with seeming calm, "I know it'll be okay, Castle. As long as you are with me."

The eyes in the helmet crinkle as he smiles at her words but before anything more can be said between them Ensign 'LT' Tolliver, the shuttle's pilot, calls from behind her, "Commander, my scope has multiple bogies launching from the Collector ship."

Releasing her grip of Castle she turns towards the seated pilot who like everyone else aboard is wearing battle armour and asks, "Are they headed towards us, LT?"

Pointing to a holographic display in front of him that shows a small cloud of red dots emanating from the larger red outline that is the Collector ship Tolliver says, "About half are. The rest are heading to a point just on the edge of the colony at 70 degrees."

Even as he says this two new dots appear on the scope at the point where half of what she surmises must be Collector drones are headed towards. The friend and foe detection system in the scope immediately designates colours the two dots as yellow and small lettering next to the icons identifies them as civilian shuttles.

With a sense of dread at what these two contacts represent she reaches for and presses a control in front of the pilot and says, "Unidentified shuttles, this is Systems Alliance flight seven thousand feet above you and five kilometres to your four o'clock. Identify yourselves and give your status."

A frantic sounding male voice comes over the shuttle's comm system in response, " _Alliance flight. We are two unarmed shuttles from Volorus colony. We are trying to escape a hostile alien attack. You have to help us we have children aboard_."

" _Raptor to Alpha Leader. Request permission to escort Volorus shuttles to the New York,"_ cuts in the voice of Flight Leader Velasquez at this point.

Beckett doesn't even stop to think as she orders, "Permission granted, Raptor. Take Raptor flight and make sure they get to the ship safely."

" _Will do, Alpha Leader. Good Luck,"_ and with those parting words Beckett can see the blue flares of the fighter's engines in front of them peel away in the direction of the in peril shuttles.

As the scope in front of them shows three blue dots, signifying their former fighter escort, speed towards the fleeing yellow dots of the shuttles and its pursuing cloud of red, hostile dots she focuses on the cloud of red dots heading towards her and the now unescorted _New York_ shuttles. She drops a gloved hand onto the armoured shoulder of the pilot and says, "Put us on the deck as quick as you can, LT."

Almost immediately LT's hands flash across the controls and the shuttle takes a very pronounced nose down attitude as a race starts. A race between the rapidly approaching cloud Collector drones and the four shuttles from the _New York_ as they try to get to the surface before the drones can intercept them.

Beckett studies the readouts as the number indicating their altitude rapidly decreases while the one indicating the range to the cloud of drones decreases at an even greater rate. Yet even with her being so focused and with the stakes so high she can still sense the presence of Castle right behind her and she does not doubt that if she were even just take a quarter step back she would run right into his solid frame.

With her not able to influence the outcome of the race between the shuttles and the drones and trusting in the skill of their pilot, Beckett decides that she should spend the little time left before they land get her people ready. So she activates a control on her Omi-tool that opens a com link to the other shuttles and then turns around to face back into the main cabin of her own shuttle.

As she suspected, when she turns around she find Castle's armoured bulk right behind her. However he clearly figures out what she is about to do because he just as quickly moves to the side so that she can be seen by everyone behind them.

Raising her voice so that she can be heard both over the screaming engines of the shuttle and over the comms by the rest of the landing party, she says, "Listen up, people. This is going to be a hot landing. We are likely to come under hostile attack before we make it planet-side. There is a good chance that we will not arrive as a single unit or in the same location and that we will still be some distance from the colony when we hit the ground. That being said our objectives remain the same. You are to make your way to the colony as quickly and safely as you can. Employ the anti-paralysis countermeasures you've been issued with to counter the enemy's micro-drones. Engage any Collector forces you encounter. Protect any civilians you find. If you get separated from the other squads the final objective is the landing zone of the Collector ship. Above all remember your training and rely on the people next to you. We are Alliance soldiers and we are going to stop the Collectors from kidnapping another group of innocent men, women and children. Protecting the innocent is one of the primary missions of any good Alliance soldier and all of you are the very best that the Alliance has to offer. I for one am proud to serve with you all and am honoured to have every one of you under my command today. So let's get this done, people."

In her helmet she hears the familiar voice of Esposito come over the comms from one of the other shuttles where, as second in command of the ship's Marines he has taken command of another part of the landing party, and he calls out, " _Let's have a Hoorah for the Commander!"_

" _HOORAH!"_

The sheer comes simultaneously from many voices, from those in the cabin before her and over the comms from those in the other _New York_ shuttles. Giving a short nod of acknowledgement and thanks to those in front of her she turns back to the cockpit to see what the status is of the race between themselves and the oncoming Collector drones.

Her timing is impeccable because as she turns back she sees from looking at the readout on the scope and indeed from looking out the front view port that the race is done. They are still several hundred meters from the ground but the ever growing in size black specks of the drones in front of them tells her that they are about to be engaged and they have lost the race.

Then at that moment LT says over the comms, "This is Alpha one to Alpha flight. Viper manoeuvre…..Execute!"

At the pilot's command LT hand move quickly over the controls and the shuttle no longer has such a nose down attitude. In fact the nose is now pointing slightly up at directly at the oncoming drones while still continuing to lose altitude in their primary mission to get the troops on the ground where they belong. If she was outside Beckett knows that she would see that the underside thrusters of the shuttles would be visibly shooting jets of blue light down as they now take over the primary task of keeping the shuttles in the air while they face their oncoming foes.

For, unlike the civilian shuttles that their fighters have gone to protect, the UT-4 _Kodiak_ drop shuttles are far from defenceless. Designed to carry troops into hostile landing zones, more often than not under fire, they are equipped with special armour, shields and kinetic barriers that you would not find on your average civilian shuttle. Also, unlike a civilian shuttle and most importantly in this situation, the _Kodiaks_ are armed.

When the drones are in range the twin forward guns on each shuttle open up with rapid fire on the approaching storm. There are multiple explosions amongst the oncoming cloud as with such a tightly packed group of targets every shot from the shuttles gets a hit. However Beckett can see that it won't be enough and that they will not shoot down enough drones before they themselves come under attack.

Turning back to the main cabin she calls out, "Arm the door guns."

At her word of command two armoured soldiers, one on either side of the cabin, activate controls next to the side doors on each side of the ship. Soon after the cabin is filled with the bright light from outside and the howling wind of the air that the shuttle is flying through.

Making her way through the crowd of standing soldiers, who are each now readying their weapons in preparation for landing, Beckett makes her way over to the open, starboard door. There one of her soldiers is about to take the controls of the rapid fire rail gun that he has swung out to face out of the door.

Patting the soldier on the shoulder plate she says, "I'll take it, Mareezi."

"Yes, Ma'am," responds the crewman crisply and he quickly relinquishes the controls of the weapon to her.

Beckett steps behind the square armour plate that is a shield half way along the weapon and just as she takes hold of the twin hand grips she hears a call from LT in the cockpit saying, "Here they come!"

Beckett barely has time to focus on the scene outside, where she can see two of the _New York's_ shuttles, still in their nose up attitudes, thrusters and forward guns each spewing flame of different colours, side doors open like them and with the green ground beneath them rapidly approaching, before all hell breaks loose. Just as quick the sky is filled with black, metal balls with short fins sticking from their sides, about half the size of the shuttles and with glowing red lenses at one end from which red beams of deadly light shoot forth.

On instinct she swings the door gun to line up on the nearest drone and depresses the triggers on the hand grips. The gun chatters away and bolts of what seems like white light but which she knows is a stream of bullets super-heated and accelerated to hypervelocity streak towards her target. She is rewarded with her target exploding in a pleasing ball of fire but there are no times for self-congratulations as she is immediately swinging her gun towards another fast moving target.

Through her helmet she can hear the chatter of the gun on the other side of the shuttle as it similarly seeks out targets of its own and she can see streaks of white light from the sides of the other shuttles in her field of view that tells her they are defending themselves as well. However all this recognition is secondary to the targeting system that she has become for the weapon in her hands. On instinct and training she moves the gun from target to target, keeping up a continuous barrage that results in the sky being filled with exploding drones.

Unfortunately again this is not enough as she sees one of the shuttles in her view get surrounded by at least five drones which all unleash beams of red energy at the same time at the encircled shuttle. Just as quickly an in control and fighting shuttle is turned into a flaming and smoking wreck that is plummeting to the fast approaching ground and Beckett hears over the comms a frantic female voice scream, " _This is Alpha Three…we're hit…we're going down…we' !"_

The flaming shuttle drops out of her view but the ground is so close now that she still sees the edge of the plume of dirt, dust, flame and smoke that indicates where Alpha Three just crashed. Beckett manages to destroy one of the drones that shot down Alpha Three as a very small measure of revenge for the soldiers that just met a very fiery end though she does also still hope some of them have been able to survive the crash.

The remaining drones, depleted though they are from the fire from the shuttles, continue their attack on them and at one point Beckett is holding on to the grips of the gun more to just stay inside the ship than to aim it as LT takes their shuttle through some aggressive manoeuvres to avoid the beams of energy from the drones that are now converging on them. They are close to landing but Beckett does not relish them stepping onto the ground with so many drones in the air around them. Sitting ducks though most of her people are in the shuttles they would still come under a withering aerial bombardment once they step out of their ships with the number of drones that are still out there.

She is firing at a trio of drones that are making what looks like a kamikaze run at her ship, and has destroyed two of them, when the remaining one, just before it hits them, explodes as a result of fire from above them. Looking beyond the cloud of the destroyed drone she sees more of the drones exploding from fire coming from the sky above them.

Over the comms she then hears the calm deep voice of Captain Montgomery, " _Alpha Flight, this is New York actual. We've got you covered. Get your butts on the ground, Now!"_

With the Captain clearly having brought the cruiser into the atmosphere to provide them with cover she repeats her commander's order as she calls out over her shoulder, "You heard the Captain, LT. The _New York's_ got our back. Now land this thing so we can all take the fight to them."

" _Aye, Commander,"_ responds LT and moments later the shuttle is levelling off and dust is being blown into the cabin as the shuttle flares to hover just centimetres above the dirt floor of a wooded clearing.

Beckett immediately releases her grip on the controls of the door gun, steps to one side, reaches over her shoulder to unclip her Vindicator assault rifle from her back and with it in her hands calls out, "Alright people, let's move. GO, GO, GO!"

With the last "GO" she makes the very short leap out of the side of the shuttle and, gun up, she leads her people onto the surface of Volorus 2. Through the sights of her rifle she tracks for targets as she moves with a quick pace to a nearby mound of earth that will provide some cover.

She has just reached the mound and crouched behind it when she takes a look back towards the shuttle to see the last of her people leap from it to be followed by an increase in the scream of the shuttles engines. The four jets of the belly thrusters flare bright and a renewed cloud of dust billows around them as the shuttle claws its way back into the sky having delivered its precious and deadly cargo of soldiers to the battlefield.

Though a battlefield it is not yet as Beckett returns to scanning her surroundings in search of hostiles and coming up with none. As she does so she takes note with approval of how the twelve soldiers that make up her squad have deployed around the clearing, covering them from attack from all sides. The short green grass and surrounding tall, brown and green trees, remind her of Earth though one look at the twin moons in the sky, one of them with a set of rings around them, soon tells her that she is far from her home world. She is not surprised, of course, that Castle is right beside her, behind the same mound of dirt providing her with cover as he, like her, searches for targets through the sights of the sub-machine gun he is carrying.

A few loud explosions from above has her looking up and she can see the faint outline of the _New York_ in the sky far above them and between her and the ship the last few flashes of flame and smoke indicating the end of the rest of the Collector drones at the hands of the cruiser's laser and missile batteries.

Glad that they aren't likely to be attacked from the air she looks over at Ryan, who has taken cover behind a nearby fallen tree, and asks, "Anything on your scanner, Wolf Three?"

Ryan takes a look at the Omni-tool glowing around his left forearm, " _Negative, my scope is clear, Wolf Leader_ ," he responds using the call sign that they have adopted now that they are on the ground.

The squads from each shuttle now have a different designation with the members of the original Alpha and Bravo squads mostly broken up and distributed amongst them to try and evenly disperse their more experienced soldiers amongst them. Beckett's squad is now Wolf squad. Esposito's squad from shuttle Alpha Two is now Cobra squad. The squad under the command of Lieutenant Karpowski from Alpha Four are Lion squad and the squad from the ill-fated Alpha Three that were under the command of Ensign Sullivan were Dragon squad. The names have, after some slightly adorable pleading, been picked by Castle which he'd told her have been inspired by some very old vid show and books that he loves.

Clearing her mind of this pleasant but irrelevant thought she calls over to Ryan again, "Okay, launch your drones to scout the surrounds, Wolf Three."

" _Copy that, Wolf Leader,_ " acknowledges Ryan and after a few taps on his Omni-tool a handful of glowing spheres appear around the Engineer, start fanning out in all directions and disappear into the surrounding woods, searching for the enemy.

As they wait for the first scans from Ryan's drones, Beckett activates her own Omni-Tool and says, "Wold Leader to Wolf Pack, Report!"

" _Wolf Leader, this is Cobra One. Cobra squad down and all accounted for. We are two klicks west of your position and one klick from objective one,"_ responds the gruff voice of Esposito.

" _Wolf Leader, this is Lion One. Lion squad down with two casualties. We caught some fire from one of the last drones as we were landing. Both were loaded back into Alpha Four and are being medi-vaced back to the ship. We are one and half klicks to your north and two klicks from objective one,"_ then responds Lieutenant Karpowski.

Then there is silence over the channel as Beckett waits for a moment, in vain, for someone from the downed Alpha Three to respond.

Eventually she calls out, "Wolf Leader to any Dragon squad member, respond!"

Nothing but silence greets her call and she sighs in resignation but before she can say anything else Karpowski's voice says, " _Wolf Leader, Lion One here. Alpha Three went down barely a klick from Lion's LZ. I can see the smoke from the crash from here. Request permission to proceed to the crash site and check for survivors?"_

Beckett takes a moment to think on Karpowski's request but the old mantra of 'leave no one behind' is deep ingrained in her so she says, "Very well, Lion One. Check the crash site but be quick about it. Call for medi-vac of any survivors you find that aren't fit to fight but do not remain at the site longer than necessary. The crash is sure to attract unwanted attention. Also our main objective is to free the colony and we are going to need you for that," Beckett tells Karpowski.

" _Lion One, acknowledged, Wolf Leader. We're moving now,"_ responds Lion squad's commander.

With Karpowski's squad on its way Beckett orders, "Wolf Leader to Cobra One. Proceed to objective and notify when you engage any hostiles."

" _Cobra One, acknowledged. Keep your head up, Wolf Leader,"_ says Esposito encouragingly.

Before Beckett can check if their drones have detected anything and then order her squad on its way an icon flashes up on the inside of the faceplate of her helmet telling her she is receiving a private transmission and Castle's voice asks, " _You good, Beckett?"_

She turns to face him and she wishes that they both didn't have their helmets on because she would both like to see his face and for him to see hers as she tells him confidently, "I'm good, Castle. How about you?"

Caste hefts up his Locust sub-machinegun as responds, " _Ready as I'll ever be._ "

A tight ball of fear appears in her gut for a moment so her voice gets serious as she says to him, "Just promise me you'll watch your six, Rick."

An equally serious and sincere tone comes from Castle as he responds, " _You too, Kate."_

* * *

 _A/N: I could go on about all the reasons why this chapter is so late but all I'll say is that I'm sorry it took so long to come out. As it is this is only half the chapter I envisaged but I wanted to get something out and this seemed like a good moment for a pause in this, now, two chapter battle. Most of the rest of this chapter is written so there will be nowhere near the wait between chapters to the next one that occurred before this one came out. I hope you enjoy it. A lot more fighting to come._

 _Thank you all that are sticking with this futuristic tale._


	21. Chapter 21

_A/N: Neither Castle or Mass Effect belong to me. They belong to others that actually get paid or did get paid to come up with their respective stories. Some dialogue from Mass Effect 2 appears in this chapter._

* * *

 _Surface – Volorus 2 – Terminus Systems_

The small readout in the corner of the HUD in Kate's helmet is now showing her a return from their scout drones and she can see that the immediate area is clear of hostiles and their initial path to the colony is also, for the moment, clear of attacking Collectors. Time to move out, she thinks.

Just before she presses a control on her Omni-tool to take them of private mode so that she can once again talk to the whole squad she says to Castle, "Okay, let's do this."

" _Right behind you, Beckett,"_ says an encouraging Castle.

She presses the control and then announces to the whole squad, "Alright, Wolf squad, let's move out. Wolf Four and Five take point. Wolf Six and Seven take the right flank. Wolf Eight and Nine the left flank. Wolf Two, Three and Ten with me and Wolf Eleven and Twelve, rear guards. Let's move like we have a purpose people."

So it is in a staggered box formation her squad moves as quietly and quickly as it can through the knee high bushes and grass that cover the floor of the wood that is between their landing zone and the edge of the colony. As she enters the dimmer light beneath the trees of the wood Beckett wishes again that they could have brought their M35 Mako armoured fighting vehicle for the approach to the colony. Unfortunately their scans from orbit had shown that these woods surround the colony on all sides and are too dense for the vehicle to get through.

For several minutes they see no sign of the Collectors but that changes when they are about half a kilometre from the colony. The drone that is scouting ahead of them is the first to see them and the indication that Beckett gets on her HUD is of a cloud of very small red dots directly ahead of them.

Beckett knows what this is and soon her eyes confirms that she is correct as her squad arrives at what is the edge of the cloud of bug like drones that the Collector ship has launched to paralyse the inhabitants of the colony. Trusting in the countermeasures that they were given at the Citadel she does not slow the pace of their advance and her squad walks straight into the buzzing swarm.

At first she and all her people attract the attention of the bugs and their shields spark all over their bodies as the small drones try to penetrate them. She glances over at Castle who is a few paces to her left and a pace behind her and she sees a blue shimmer around him as he uses a biotic barrier to enhance his own shields. Biotics and technology together are even more effective as the number of sparking impacts around him testifies to the inability of the bugs to reach him.

Gradually the bugs must realise the futility of trying to paralyse them and the attacks on them drop off with only the occasional spark on their shields indicating that the drones are still probing for weaknesses. However the drones obviously do more than just paralyse those that they encounter. They must also tell the Collectors what is going on around them, just like Ryan's drones are doing for them because very soon after they encounter the swarm and with only a couple of hundred meters until the first structure of the colony the scout drone ahead of them sends back indications of at least two dozen solid red dots indicating hostiles directly ahead of them.

Also at that moment she receives a transmission from Esposito in her helmet, " _This is Cobra One. We have reached the colony and are being engaged by thirty plus hostiles."_

On the small map in one corner of her HUD a green flashing icon shows where Cobra squad is engaged about half a klick to their left and Beckett sends back, "Acknowledged Cobra one. Wolf is at the colony and about to engage twenty plus hostiles."

She then makes hand signals to her squad to orientate them towards the threat ahead of them as they continue to move forward. Beckett then turns her head to Ryan to her left and after another hand signal from her he is launching another drone, this one an attack drone.

The glowing gold sphere shoots ahead and after a beat Beckett signals for her squad to follow it. Barely seconds later the icon of the attack drone flashes indicating that it is engaging the enemy a fact confirmed by the sound of explosions and a strange prolonged whine that she surmises must be the sound made by the Collector's weapons.

Her suspicions are confirmed as they reach the edge of the wood with her squad mostly spread out in a line either side of her, in cover, like her behind trees. In front of her in a clearing she sees a group of the very same bulky, tall, bipedal yet insectoid looking aliens with a brown chitinous exoskeleton and four eyes that Castle described from his encounter at Williamstown. They are standing in the open near what she recognises as a detached cargo pod from a freighter that must be serving as someone's home. The someones that must be in the coffin like cocoons, again just like they saw at Williamstown, that she can see grouped near the entrance of the pod.

The Collectors all are carrying strange looking rifles that look like they were grown rather than made and from these beams of white light whine out as they try to hit the madly swooping drone that is flying amongst them, firing small rockets as it goes.

Wanting to take advantage of the momentary distraction that the drone is causing she gives hand signals to her squad to spread out and take careful aim on the group in front of them. Then, when she is sure they are all set and just as their drone winks out of existence after being hit by fire from several Collectors, she sights down the barrel of her own rifle at the nearest Collector and fires.

All around her flashes of flame spew from the edge of the wood as her squad opens up on the Collectors before them. A handful of the exposed enemy drop at once under the relentless barrage but the Collectors soon gather themselves and start taking cover and firing back at the tree line.

Soon there is the first indication that one of her people is hit as a one of the blue dots on her HUD to her far left winks out and over her helmet she hears, " _Wolf Six is down."_ Which is soon followed by one another blue icon flashing to her right followed by a call of, " _This is Wolf Four, I'm hit."_

There is no time to acknowledge this however as she sees a group four Collectors behind a crate starting to assemble on a tripod a very large version of the organic looking rifles they are carrying. From where she is she can't get a clear shot on them so she looks over at Castle who is, by no strange coincidence, in cover behind a tree very close to her and she calls, "Castle!" pointing at the four Collectors behind the crate.

He immediately takes the hint as he nods, lowers his gun and then with two out stretched hands sends a biotic push towards the hidden Collectors. The biotic wave he sends pushes the crate to one side and actually knocks two of the Collectors off their feet. With them all exposed she makes short work of taking them down with accurate, armour piercing rounds, assisted at the end by Castle himself as he raises his gun again and assists her.

With their heavy weapon taken out the now very depleted Collectors start falling back and seeing an opportunity Beckett leaps out of cover and moves quickly, at a crouch and still firing as she goes to another group of crates ahead of her for cover. She hears booted feet pounding in the dirt behind her and is again not surprised when Castle joins her barely half a second later in cover behind the crates.

The rest of her squad follow her lead and blue armoured figures emerge from the tree line, firing as they go and advance to cover closer to the cargo pod. Beckett does not try to dwell too much as the quick count she does of her people shows that they are now three down. Leaning over the top of her crate Beckett fires at a retreating Collector and is gratified to see it drop into the dust under the hail of her armour piercing bullets.

Then just as quickly as this fire fight began it is over as the last Collector in sight is thrown in the air by an exploding grenade thrown by one of her soldiers. A sudden and incongruous quiet falls over the immediate area but Beckett can hear gunfire, explosions and the strange whine of the Collector's weapons in the distance to her left.

Touching a control on her forearm Omni-Tool she calls out, "Cobra Squad, Report?"

There is a few seconds of silence before he hears he pissed off sounding voice of Esposito say, " _Cobra One here. Meeting heavy resistance and we are moving forward but slowly, Wolf Leader. We're taking casualties. Strength down by a third."_

Nodding to herself Beckett responds, "Okay, Cobra One. Once we've cleared this area I'll try to loop to you and flank your hostiles."

" _Copy that, Wolf Leader,"_ acknowledges a now grateful sounding Esposito.

"Lion squad, Report?" she now says over the comm.

Yet the response she gets is not verbal but visual as several blue armoured figures emerge from the tree line about a hundred meters to their right. The new comers quickly move forward to join Wolf squad in cover around the cargo pod with two of them, a green and brown armoured human figure and a black and gold armoured Salarain moving to join Beckett behind her cover.

The husky voice of Lieutenant Karpowski then is heard in her helmet as the woman says, " _Sorry we're late, Wolf Leader._ _We found four survivors at the site of Alpha Three and had to wait for the medi-vac. Then just after the dust off a handful of Collectors attacked and kept us busy for a while but we took them out thanks to our Salarian friend here."_ Karpowski finishes by cocking a gloved thumb at the Salarain, Spectre Jondum Bau, beside her.

Shaking her head Beckett responds, "No worries, Lion One."

Likewise shaking his long tapering and helmeted head Bau says, " _I did no more than assist your soldiers in the fight. They handled themselves admirably. Reminded me of my brief time with the Salarian Special Tasks Group before I became a Spectre."_

There is then a pause as Karpowski fishes out a small bag from a pouch on her belt that has a slight sound of metallic clinks in it as he holds it out to Beckett and says sombrely, " _I collected the tags of those that didn't make it. We loaded what bodies we could onto the shuttle when the wounded were medi-vaced out but two are still trapped in the wreck of Alpha Three….one of them is Sully. We'll have to go back for them when this is over."_

Nodding and with equal solemnity Beckett takes the distressingly heavy bag of dog tags and says, "That we will, Lieutenant. I promise you that."

Then one of her soldiers that had headed over to the cocoons at the entrance of the pod calls out, " _Wolf Leader, you better see this."_

Taking a quick look around to see that there are no Collectors in sight she stows her rifle on her back and the bag of dog tags in a pouch on her belt and moves at a quick crouch over to where the soldier that called to her is trying to get their armoured fingers between a crack in the top of the cocoon. With Karpowski, Bau and Castle with her she reaches where the soldier is struggling to pry the cocoon open. Castle joins the soldier and together they manage to force open the cocoon with a hiss of escaping gasses when they peel off the, opaque orange top. Leaning over the cocoon Beckett sees a young boy, no more than ten years old, in brown coveralls and with wide sightless eyes.

Next to her Karpowski runs her Omni tool over the frozen child and then announces, " _He's alive but in perfect stasis. Just like the colonists on Williamstown."_

Calling over her shoulder Beckett then says, "Corpsman!"

At her call a blue armoured figure detaches itself from a small group behind a nearby shipping container and heads towards her. The group that the figure just left, she can see, is made up of a couple of now treated, wounded soldiers.

The soldier, identified as a Corpsman by the small red winged serpent symbol on the shoulder pads of his armour, drops to his knees next to the paralysed boy that Castle has lifted out of the cocoon and placed on the ground at her feet. After a quick scan of his Omni-tool the Corpsman reaches into a pouch on his belt, pulls out a hypo-spray, presses it to the boy's neck and activate the control on it.

There is a brief hiss as the Corpsman says, " _Doctor Parish came up with this after Williamstown. It should counteract the paralysing agents in his system and bring him around in about an hour."_

Nodding Beckett turns to Karpowski, indicates to the other four cocoons near them that a pair of soldiers are also trying to pry open and says, "Lion One, have four of your people stay here with one our Corpsman to free these civilians and stay with our wounded."

Getting a nod from Karpowski she says to the Corpsman, "Wolf Eight, what is the condition of our casualties?"

The medic rises from his knees where he was examining the frozen child and says, " _Both Wolf Four and Ten are stable enough for transport back to the ship and both should make it though I've never seen wounds like those caused by the Collector's weapons,"_ he then pulls a dog tag from his belt and holds it out to Beckett. " _Wolf Six didn't make it. Caught a beam right in the face. I've got her body ready to be taken back to the ship."_

Beckett regretfully adds another small indicator of a life lost to the others in the pouch at her belt and makes a silent and probably unrealistic vow to herself that no more pieces of metal will be added to that pouch today. She then clears her feelings of regret from her mind as she says to the Corpsman, "Call for medi-vac to evacuate the civilians and the wounded. As soon as they are evacuated you are to link up with us. We are heading to assist Cobra squad."

The Corpsman nods and says, " _Copy that, Commander."_

Looking around her taking in the surrounding soldiers in cover and in particular the reassuring sight of Castle beside her Beckett then unclips her rifle from her back, changes out the thermal clip and calls out, "Wolf squad, Lion squad, with me!"

Again she has Ryan send out scout drones and as the glowing white globes speed ahead of them she looks at the readout on her HUD for the sight of any tell-tale red icons showing hostiles. Using an overlay of the "street plan" of the colony that they had taken from orbit Beckett plots their path through the sections of detached freighter and other barely started prefabricated buildings that make up the colony.

Soon they are a lot closer to the still raging engagement between Esposito's Cobra squad and the Collectors as they can tell from the increased sound of gunfire and explosions not to mention the black plume of smoke that Beckett can see over the roof tops ahead. Keeping to cover as much as possible with their weapons up searching every corner, window, doorway and rooftop for any hidden hostiles Beckett and her people move quickly and efficiently through the makeshift 'streets' of the colony.

At a couple of places they find more cocoons some of them empty but some of them occupied with more paralysed civilians. With each occupied cocoon she marks the location on her Omni-tool and signals Ryan and Bau, who was acting as the Engineer for Lion squad, to place mines and combat drones to guard them while also signalling the team that she left with their wounded and the other cocoons their location with instructions to come and collect them once they have had their wounded dusted-off.

She is just considering ordering a pair of soldiers to remain with the latest handful of occupied cocoons when a louder than normal explosion is heard coming from the direction of Cobra squad's fight. Then over the comms comes the panting breath of Esposito saying, " _Wolf Leader, this is Cobra One. The Collectors have got some sort of heavy unit that's got us pinned down and is tearing us apart. We could really use some assistance right about now."_

Out of habit she puts her had to the side of her helmet where her ear is and responds quickly, "On our way, Cobra One. Just hold on!"

Beckett then gives rapid chopping hand signals to her squad for them to double time it towards the embattled Cobra squad. They round a couple more detached sections of the freighter and the glowing dots on her HUD tell her where the enemy is, thanks to Ryan's drone, even before they round the third and last section and the area where Cobra is pinned down.

Reaching the battle she makes a quick survey of the situation as the rest of her people get set up as thankfully the Collectors aren't yet aware of the large group of heavily armed humans and one Salarian that have arrived behind them. She can see Cobra squad, what's left of them, in cover behind a stack of shipping crates and one, smoking and on fire six wheeled rover. Between her and Cobra are about twenty Collector soldiers in various positions of cover firing their beam weapons at the human soldiers.

As she watches a couple of the Collectors go down as a result of fire from the dug in Cobra so she is not too concerned about them. There are also the human shaped 'husks' that Beckett well remembers reading and seeing on vids taken by Commander Shepard and his team during their battles with the Geth and the rouge Spectre Saren Arterius. These husks are the bodies of dead humans that have been reanimated using massive amounts of cybernetic implants throughout their bodies. Totally mindless, fast moving and used as cannon fodder by the Geth and now it seems by the Collectors, they blindly attack anything that is living. As she watches three of them charge Cobra's barricade only to be immediately cut down by withering fire from the humans.

Beckett hopes they the Collectors brought the husks with them and those now completely dead husks are not some of the colonists they are supposed to be rescuing. She is not worried about the husks, or Twenty-eight Days Later zombies as Castle calls them, but what does have her concerned and draws her attention is the massive thing that is floating couple of feet in the air between her and Cobra's barricade. The thing has a black metallic like skin with a smooth wedge shaped, domed head from which there are four glowing eyes like the other Collectors. Yet this thing is ten times the size of the average Collector soldier, has four legs that hang loosely beneath its floating body and, most horribly, has a body that seems to be made up of the fused together remains of at least thirty husks.

A large purple particle beam shoots out from the heavy's eyes and one of the crates protecting Cobra vaporises. As the now exposed soldiers scramble for cover a white and red armoured figure steps forward and raises their arms. Recognising Gunnery Chief Hastings, Beckett watches as an aura of blue energy surrounds the biotic and then the Collector heavy shudders and shakes as a powerful warp field tries to compromise its armour and rip it apart from the inside.

Just when Beckett thinks Hastings will succeed a white glow, like a shield, covers the skin of the heavy and it slams down to the ground onto its four legs. The force of the impact sends Hastings flying backwards and even has Beckett staggering as the shockwave from the impact is felt by all around. Concerned for Hastings, Beckett looks for her but is glad to see her staggering to her feet and being helped back into cover by the familiar armoured figure of Esposito as he fires his rifle from his hip. The now stationary heavy seems to be regrouping as it just sits there but remains unharmed as multiple bullet strikes spark uselessly off the still glowing shield enveloping it.

With her people in position there is no time to lose so she raises her rifle, takes aim at the exposed back of nearest Collector soldier and shouts through her comms, "FIRE!"

The noise of firing weapons is now added to tenfold and quickly the surprised Collectors drop under the relentless combined fire of Lion and Wolf squads. Some Collectors try to turn and face this new threat from behind them but none manage more than few a wild shot in their direction before they and the remaining few husks are cut down.

As the last of the bipedal soldiers falls the glow around the heavy dissipates and it rises into the air again. Ominously it slowly turns in the air to face her and her people. In fact when it does stop its turn it is now 'looking' directly at Beckett. It's glowing eyes flash and just as she is about to dive out of the way she hears a frantic, " _BECKETT!"_ over the comms and she is tackled out of the way by Castle as the particle beam passes over them.

Knocked to the ground she sees Castle scramble to his feet before she can move and like Hastings, raise his arms at the monstrous Collector. Like the other biotic a blue glow surrounds Castle as he sends a Warp field at the beast. From her position on the ground she can see that again the heavy's armour is weakening and before it can hunker down again she yells into her comms, "All heavy weapons concentrate your fire on the hostile, NOW!"

From several points surrounding the Collector heavy, both from her people and from Cobra squad rockets, grenades and streams of tracer pound the floating Collector. The creature is rocked by countless explosions and from the ground Beckett raises her own rifle to add her own fire to the onslaught. She can see the start of the white glow of its shield powering up but before the shield can fully form the thing is ripped apart by explosions. Then its whole body starts glowing harshly but this is not the bright glow of its shield. Its legs shoot out stiff in all directions as the white light intensifies and Beckett has to shield her face as finally the thing explodes in a blinding flash and with a loud boom.

Small pieces of the heavy are raining down on her as she rises to her feet and then claps a congratulatory and comforting hand onto the shoulder of the gasping Castle, "Well done, Castle."

Turning his head the panting Castle responds with, " _Piece of cake, Beckett."_

The crunching of boots in dirt and now destroyed Collector announce the arrival of Esposito and a slightly limping Hastings and as the pair stop in front of her Esposito says, " _Thanks for the assist, Commander."_

" _What, no thanks for me, Espo?"_ interjects Castle teasingly before Beckett can respond.

Esposito's blue helmeted cocks in Castle's direction and he says grudgingly, " _Ok, yeah. Thanks, Writer-boy."_

While this little exchange happens Beckett checks the HUD in her helmet for the readout from the scout drones that she is now receiving that all the Engineers on all the squads have deployed. Fortunately they seem to have a little time to regroup as there is no indication of any hostiles nearby or approaching, for now.

However time is rarely your friend on the battlefield and knowing that the situation could change in a moment she decides to put them back on track so she asks, "Report, Cobra One?"

Esposito's blue armoured frame stiffens, not quite coming to attention as he turns towards Beckett and answers indicating with a sweep of his arm back to the members of his squad now emerging from cover, " _I have three dead and four others injured of which two of those, including Hastings here, can still fight."_

Checking the readout on her HUD before she responds Beckett then turns to Lieutenant Hastings and asks, "Are you sure you're fit to go on, Cobra Two?"

Hastings white and red helmeted head nods vigorously in response, " _Yes, ma'am. That last big bastard just knocked the wind out of me. I'm good to go."_

Nodding thoughtfully in response and now seeing the information she wanted on her HUD, Beckett turns to Esposito and says, "My medic and four members of Lion have seen off our casualties and are currently policing up some paralysed civilians that we discovered. I'll have them head here and link up with your casualties for them to be medi-vaced back to the ship."

As Esposito responds with a, " _Copy that, Wolf Leader_ ," their little group is joined by Karpowski and Bau.

Addressing them all Beckett then orders, "Ok, have our people do a weapons and ammo check. We move out in one minute."

Then as they all chorus, " _Yes, Wolf Leader,"_ over the comms in Beckett's helmet she hears Montgomery's voice ask, " _New York Actual to Wolf Leader, sit rep?"_

Looking up into the sky slightly though she can no longer see their ship she answers, "All surviving teams have reached the colony and engaged the enemy. With the loss of Alpha Three we are currently suffering a little over twenty-five percent casualties with almost that percentage again of wounded. We have encountered and rescued several paralysed civilians. I intend moving on the final objective presently."

" _Very well, Wolf Leader. I can report that all hostile drones have been destroyed and that Raptor Flight just completed escorting both civilian shuttles safely to the ship. I am releasing Raptor to provide you with close air support should you need it as well to escort our medi-vac shuttles. Advise me if you require any further fire support and when you have reached the main objective, New York Actual out,"_ says the calm deep voice of Captain Montgomery.

With that communication terminated Beckett does a quick survey of her surrounding troops and at that moment sees the medic and Lion squad members from earlier trot into view. She points towards what was the barricade that Cobra had sheltered behind and where their Corpsman is working on Cobra's wounded giving a clear order for what the newly arrived group are to do next.

Then seeing that everyone else has completed their checks she calls out, "Alright, let's move people. Lion squad, take point, followed by Wolf and then Cobra as rear guard."

Command given the members of the _New York's_ assault force, with Castle as always close by her side, now moves through the tight, detritus strewn and still forming streets of the colony towards the looming tower that is the Collector ship. As she and her people move through the streets, clearing each pod and half-finished pre-fab structure as they go, Beckett half wishes again that they could have the Mako with them.

She immediately dismisses the thought however because welcome though its turret mounted mass accelerator gun and armour would be the tight and rubbish filled streets would be close to impassable for the armoured vehicle. Add to that the fact that in close in street fighting that they are likely but yet to encounter a large vehicle like the Mako tends to be one big target for the enemy and just attracts hostile fire.

Again with their drones scouting ahead Beckett is constantly checking her HUD for any sign of the enemy as they advance but, surprisingly, there is none. They do come across several cocoons more and more of them occupied with paralysed civilians and the numbers increasing the closer they get to the landing zone of the Collector ship. As before Beckett has their combat engineers set mines, drones and other traps to guard the vulnerable civilians and marks their locations on her Omni-tool for later evacuation.

Soon, much quicker than she thought would happen, again because of the total lack of further resistance they encounter, she and the rest of the _New York's_ assault force finds themselves at landing point of the massive Collector ship. In the shadow cast by the towering cylinder Beckett sees that they are on the edge of a small open space at the north end of the colony where, to one side, there is what was the front command or bridge section of the freighter that brought the colonists here.

The fact that they have reached this close to the Collector ship without encountering any more Collector soldiers has alarm bells ringing in her head. The deserted and ominously quite space in front of her further adds to the warmings in head as the whole situation spells trap to her.

Yet again, as if he can read her mind, Beckett hears in her ear the voice of Castle say, " _Can anyone say, 'trap'."_

Taking a moment to check the deployment of her troops on her helmet's readout behind what cover they can find at the edge of the open space she then mutters to Castle, "Yeah, I got the 'trap' memo too, Castle."

Beckett looks beyond the open space towards the base of the Collector ship itself where a large rectangular ramp leads from the ground near the command module of the freighter up to a large gaping rectangular gap in the side of the Collector ship one story above them. The silence and lack of guards at this entrance to the enemy ship has Beckett more than a bit concerned. It is clear that the Collectors want the human soldiers to enter their ship and it is equally clear to Beckett that if they do so they may not come out again.

"Wolf Three, send a drone inside that thing. Let's see what's waiting for us in there," Beckett orders over the comms to the out of sight by nearby, Ryan.

Then as another golden, glowing holographic sphere streaks at hip height towards the enemy ship's ramp, Beckett makes another call on the comms, "Wolf Leader to _New York._ We have reached the primary objective. No hostile contact at this time. Stand by for further updates."

 _"_ _Acknowledged, Wolf Leader,"_ responds Montgomery's disembodied voice.

In that short time their drone has reached the top of the ramp and enters the black, forbidding, open hatchway. In the bottom corner of her helmet a small image appears as an infrared image from a camera on the drone starts sending back images of what it can see inside the suspiciously unlit interior of the Collector ship.

Therefore it is no surprise to Beckett when a moment later the image on the inside of her helmet starts showing the glowing outline of one, then another, then another and then several Collector soldiers grouped just a handful of meters beyond the entrance of the ship. In fact as the drone approaches them the number of outline soon fills the small image. Then one of the wedge shaped heads with four eyes raises its rifle and just like that the image from the drone winks out.

Glancing over at Castle, who is right beside her in cover at the corner of a prefab building on the edge of the open area in front of the Collector ship she says, "Well that's one party we're not joining."

Castle's helmeted head then indicates at something behind her as he replies with, " _Yeah, well it looks like they are bringing the party to us anyway_."

Beckett turns around as immediately sees what Castle is talking about. From down the ramp, that they were so obviously supposed to use to walk into the Collector's trap, now a mass of Collector soldiers come streaming firing their weapons as they go. However that is not all as from high above them, from numerous spots on the ship come more Collector soldiers, these with wings like insects that appear above them and fire down at the sheltering human soldiers. Then to top it off not one but three of the Collector heavies appear from the hatch at the base of the ship behind the mass of charging Collectors on foot.

Sparing a moment for a quick glance back at Castle and getting a small, reassuring nod from him she then turns back around and slaps a fresh thermal clip into her rifle before saying into her comms for all her people to hear, "Time to earn our pay everyone. WOLF SQUADS! STAND TO!"

* * *

 _At an Undisclosed Location in the Galaxy_

The Illusive Man looks with anger at the holographic image of the armoured man standing before him. Right up until this moment everything has been going exactly to his plan.

Shepard has used the Omega 3 Relay to find the Collector's base of operations, a huge artificial construct at the very centre of the galaxy protected from the gravitational forces of the surrounding black holes by massive mass effect fields. Getting his hands on that technology alone not to mention all the other advanced weapons technology that the Collector's possess is one of the main reasons he sent Shepard on this mission. All the altruistic talk of wanting to protect innocent human colonists from the Collectors while not totally untrue were really well down the priority list for why Cerberus spent the millions of credits on resurrecting Shepard and building him a new and improved _Normandy._

And, up until this point, Shepard had been returning on that investment perfectly. After the _Normandy_ destroyed the Collector ship sent out to stop them they had crashed landed on the Collector base. Then Shepard and all the specialists and mercenaries he'd recruited for this mission had boarded the Collector base to engage them.

After a tough fight they had fought their way to the very centre of the base. There Sheppard and his squad had discovered the fate of the thousands of kidnapped humans and a terrible fate it was. Their bodies had been broken down, converted into a fluid and being pumped into a gigantic cybernetic horror. This horror was in the form of a metallic human skeleton, or at least the top half as it was still only half finished.

Shepard has discovered that the Collectors are surrogates for the Reapers and that this abomination was a human form Reaper. The Reapers, that ancient and advanced machine race of synthetic-organic starships that were responsible for the extinction of the Prothean race fifty-thousand years ago. Each ship, ten times larger than the biggest dreadnought in the Council Fleet, are each an individual Artificial Intelligence and they have one purpose. To consume and exterminate all advanced organic life in the galaxy.

After they destroyed the Protheans fifty thousand years ago they retreated into the dark space between the galaxies to wait for the next evolution of organic life to advance to a level worthy of their attention. They had been behind the attack on the Citadel by the rouge Spectre Saren and the machine race of the Geth that Shepard had stopped two years ago. In fact Saren's ship, _Sovereign,_ was actually a Reaper and was using its ability to warp and influence minds both organic and artificial to control both Saren and the Geth. The attack was a foiled attempt of opening a Relay to the Reapers in dark space so that they could invade and start their cull of the races currently inhabiting the galaxy.

When the _Normandy_ and the combined Council and Alliance fleets destroyed _Sovereign_ the Reaper's plan had been thwarted but only temporarily. Shepard is convinced that the Reapers are still trying to invade the galaxy and his discovery of the Collector's connection to the Reapers and their attempt to build a Reaper in the image of a human and using humans as the organic element in a Reaper's construction confirms this. Because of this Shepard is now preparing destroy the Collector base which is something that the Illusive Man does not want.

While he agrees with Shepard that the Reapers are coming and that they are the most dangerous threat that humans have faced in their history he does not agree with destroying the Collector base or the remains of the Reaper that Shepard just took down. No, he wants that technology to study and use against a possible Reaper invasion and also to make humans the most technologically advanced race in the galaxy.

Unfortunately the surprisingly idealistic Shepard cannot see the benefits of using the bounty of technology he's discovered for the betterment of humankind. The Illusive Man has already suggested that Shepard just use a radiation pulse to kill the remaining Collectors on the base which would leave their technology intact but Shepard is having none of it. No, he is all caught up in the sentiment of revenge over how the Collectors murdered thousands of humans to try and create a Reaper and he just wants to wipe that fact from existence because of it. All despite the effort and expense that he and Cerberus went through to bring the 'hero of humanity' back from the dead.

Normally the Illusive Man does not plead with anyone but the gift that the Collector base represents has him virtually doing that as he says, "Shepard. You died fighting for what you believed. I brought you back so you could keep fighting. Some would say that what we did to you was going too far but look at what you've accomplished. I didn't discard you because I knew your value. Don't be so quick to discard this facility. Think of the potential."

The image of the grim, pale close cropped dark haired man with five o'clock shadow wearing a holographic targeting visor over his eyes responds, "We'll fight and win without it. I won't let fear compromise who I am."

The hologram of Shepard turns away from the Illusive Man and goes over to a nearby console and Sheppard proceeds to fix charges to its base. That console controls the regulation systems for the power core of the base. Destroy that and a matter of minutes later the core will overload and the Collector base will be destroyed.

Desperate now the Illusive Man turns on his holographic projector so that his image spins around to face the black and white cat suit wearing woman with raven black hair that is one of Shepard's squad. This is Shepard's second in command and one of the Illusive Man's most trusted Cerberus operatives, Miranda Lawson.

She is supposed loyal to him and Cerberus and so uphold Cerberus' interests on this mission and so he orders, "Miranda, do not let Shepard destroy the base!"

To his disconcerting surprise the holographic image of Miranda just shoots him a sneering look as she responds with, "Or what? You'll replace me next?"

Clearly a bond has developed between Miranda and Shepard and she is not happy that the Illusive Man wants to replace Shepard just like that. He had thought that there was a chance that Shepard and Miranda might become close and had thought that might work to his advantage. Make Shepard more loyal to Cerberus. That it has had the opposite effect just makes him angry.

"I gave you an order, Miranda," he says venomously at his traitorous agent.

"I noticed. Consider this my resignation," the woman replies sarcastically.

Giving up on Miranda, for now though in his mind she just signed her own death warrant, the Illusive Man turns around so that he can face Sheppard and tries one last time to reason with the man, "Shepard. Think about what's at stake. About everything Cerberus has done for you. You….."

He stops in mid flow as the Illusive Man is suddenly staring at nothing as the image of a kneeling Shepard winks out. Looking over at a nearby console he sees that the transmission has been cut off at the source. He could try to get them back but something tells them that they will just ignore him.

Frustration and anger course through his veins at this betrayal. He didn't go through all this trouble, bring back Shepard, equipping him, helping him to recruit his team, not to mention interfering with the Alliance's efforts against the Collectors so he could have a clear run at the aliens, for it all to be for nothing.

Sure Agent Turner failed in destroying the _New York_ but the he still knew that the Alliance ship wasn't going to be in a position to interfere with Shepard's assault on the Collector's base. Now all that time, money and effort is for naught as Shepard is clearly about to destroy the Collectors and all of their technology.

The Illusive Man pulls out the cigarette case from his pants pocket and as he opens it to get a calming smoke he wonders on how the Alliance are doing against the Collectors? Perhaps if they defeat the Collectors there will be enough to salvage from that battle so that his agents in the Alliance will be able to procure the Collector's technology for him that way.

A rueful smile graces his lips and he thinks on the irony that he is now pinning his hopes on the success of the Alliance for his own success.

* * *

 _Back on Volorus 2_

Castle pushes Beckett into the alley between the two unfinished pre-fab dwellings just as the purple particle beam from the Collector heavy or 'Praetorian' as he's designated them in his head, scours the earth at the place where Beckett had just been standing. He immediately takes position at the entrance of the alley, braces himself, extends out his hands and sends as powerful a biotic Warp field as he can at the Praetorian. Now beside him, Beckett is firing her rife continuously at the seemingly impervious creature as her fire sparks off the armour of the Collector.

The battle is not going well for the humans.

While the Alliance soldiers are able to take down at least ten Collector soldiers for every one of them and two of the Praetorians have been taken out by strafing runs by Raptor flight there are still too many of the enemy to stop. More and more of the Collector soldiers on foot and by wing pour out of their ship and they are overwhelming the humans and their Salarian ally by sheer weight of numbers. Slowly but surely the Collectors have driven them back and if they keep this level of intensity then there soon won't be a human soldier left standing.

Panting into his helmet at the effort of trying to generate a Warp field strong enough to compromise the Praetorian's armour after what he has already done today he looks through the sweat streaming from his brow at the horrendous creature for any sign that it is working. Unfortunately for both him at Beckett the thing before them seems to be mostly unaffected by his efforts this time and he can feel his strength sapping and the pain from his implants increase the longer he tries to keep the field going.

" _Come on, Castle. Keep going. You've almost got it,"_ he hears the encouraging voice of Beckett in his helmet as she must sense him waning.

Boyed by her words he grits his teeth as he wills the last ounces of his strength to try and rip apart the creature in front of them. Then, disconcertingly, he sees its four eyes start to glow in preparation for what he knows will be the firing of its particle beam weapon.

"I…I don't think I can do it, Beckett," he gasps out in regret to the woman still fighting beside him.

At that moment with the Collector about to fire at them and with nowhere for them to go he is full of regret. Regret that he should die just as he has found a woman he can truly love. Regret that this same woman that has given her heart to him is also about to die and there is nothing he can do about it.

Rage quickly replaces regret and he thinks on how the both of them dying now, just as they've found each other would be such a waste. He also rages at the thought of being taken from his daughter, Alexis, and even that the chance that by them being defeated here it might also mean the ultimate defeat and destruction of the _New York_ and with it the death of his daughter.

"ARGGGHHH!" he screams and he pushes the last vestiges of his strength and power at the Collector.

Then he is done. He's got nothing left.

He drops his hands to his side in exhaustion but the anticipated searing of his flesh by the Collector's weapon does not come. He looks at the massive four legged figure hovering before them and the glow around its eyes has stopped. It hovers there perfectly still with it only swaying slightly as it moves about from the impacts of Beckett's rifle fire on its armour. Not wanting to look a gift Collector in the mouth Castle quickly unclips his sub-machine gun from his belt and joins Beckett in firing at the seemingly now stationary and dormant Collector.

Their combined fire seems to be having little effect but it still hasn't made any more attacks on them so he asks, "What's it doing? Why has it stopped?"

" _I don't know, Castle. Just don't stop shooting,"_ responds an equally perplexed sounding Beckett.

Then just as quickly as it stopped the Pretorian turns around in the air and starts flying out of the small street it had chased them into. Castle looks at surprise it the clear eye slits on Beckett's helmet and she looks back at him for a moment before she says, " _Come on, Castle."_

Together they run in pursuit of the seemingly fleeing Pretorian. At the end of the street they come to a skidding halt as they take in the scene before them. The Pretorian they were pursing is disappearing into the now closing hatch of the Collector ship. Before them in the open space in front of the ship the ground is littered with the bodies of Collector soldiers interspaced with the occasional, distressing sight of a fallen armoured human figure. Small fires and plumes of smoke rise from various points where there are the remains of the two Praetorians taken out by their fighters and from other places where grenades and rockets from the humans caused some secondary damage.

Around them Castle can see the surviving Alliance soldiers, Esposito, Ryan and even the Salarain, Bau, amongst them come out from cover. Some of them are still firing at the fleeing Collectors and a couple fall even as they try to get back into their ship. Then just as the rectangular hatch at the base of the ship closes several ports on the ship start to glow.

" _It's taking off! EVERYONE BACK!"_ shouts Beckett as she grabs his forearm and pulls him after her as she starts running back down the street and away from the Collector ship.

Castle joins her in running as fast as his legs can carry him away from the blast zone that is sure to be caused by the taking off of the alien vessel. They make several twisting turns through the streets as they try to put as much cover and distance between themselves and the landing zone.

However far too soon there is a shaking of their ground beneath their feet and a roar from behind them. Then they are knocked off their feet onto their faces as a blast wave of air and heat washes over them. Warning indicators flash on the inside of his helmet as his shields and armour struggle to deal with the heat of the blast wave washing over them. Dirt, dust and debris fly around them as the engines of the Collector ship force it into the sky.

Fortunately the blast wave ends eventually and when that happens, at the same time, he and Beckett roll onto their backs in time to see the cylindrical Collector ship rise with ever increasing speed into the blue above them trailing fire and smoke. Out of the corner of his eye he sees Beckett raise her orange glowing Omni-tool to press a control.

He then hears Beckett over the comms say, " _Wolf Leader to New York. The enemy vessel has taken off. Repeat, the enemy vessel has taken off. Prepare for ship to ship engagement!"_

 _"_ _Copy that, Wolf Leader. We have them on our scope. We'll take it from here. New York Actual, out,"_ responds the ever calm sounding voice of Captain Montgomery.

* * *

 _CIC – SSV New York_

Montgomery studies the image of the Collector ship on the tactical holographic display in the centre of CIC as it rises from the surface of the planet. The rapidly increasing numbers next to the image tells him that it is gaining altitude swiftly.

Several targeting crosshair icons start appearing overlayed on the image of the enemy ship and from the nearby weapons consoles he hears reports called out to him.

"Forward missile batteries one through six have target lock!"

"GARDIAN defence system on line and ready!"

"Thanix cannon is armed and has targeting solution on the enemy vessel, awaiting your order, sir!"

Crossing his arms over his chest Montgomery watches the altitude of the Collector ship increase. He will not fire until the enemy has cleared the atmosphere so to minimise the chance of any debris falling back onto the colony and his people there. The Collectors should have no similar restraints but curiously they have not fired yet at the _New York._ No they just seem to be intent of getting off the surface of the planet as quickly as possible.

The Captain narrows his eyes as the image gets closer and closer to the blue line in the hologram indicating the edge of the upper atmosphere of the planet. Then as the image crosses the line he opens his mouth…

* * *

 _At the Centre of the Galaxy_

The Collector Prime moves on its four legs around the hexagonal control console and its holographic displays, its eyes glowing with a bright orange light and with the same light streaming from gaps in its carapace. Its four arms move over the controls as it maintains both technological and telepathic control of all Collector's everywhere. For the advantage of the Collector's technology and biology is that they are all linked together no matter where they are even across the great expanse of space.

Then a rumble can be heard deep within the base and the displays around it flicker followed by several small explosions from some nearby equipment. An explosion particularly close by throws the Collector Prime into the console. As it gathers itself a deep ageless voice can be heard coming from the hologram of a large vessel that looks like a six limbed squid at the centre of the console as it says, " _You have failed. We will find another way."_

Just like that the glow infusing the Collector Prime's eyes and body fades and for the first time in thousands of years the creature's own mind looks through its eyes at the controls before it. For this is the first time that its master, the Reaper vanguard called _Harbinger,_ has not been in control of its every thought and action.

It looks up the centre of the console in confusion even as the room around it shakes and machines spark. In the centre of the console the hologram of the Reaper folds its legs under itself before winking out completely.

She shaking of the room increases and the last thing the Collector Prime does is look around at the fast approaching searing white blast wave that is heading straight for it.

* * *

 _Flying Bridge – SSV New York_

Alexis Castle makes a minor adjustment of the holographic controls in front of her while keeping her eyes fixed on the sight she can see through the view port in front of her. The sight of the Collector ship just clearing the blue and white atmosphere of Volorus 2.

She has brought the _New York_ in close, otherwise known as knife fighting range, so to give their weapons the best chance of doing the most damage. Even now just as they are about to fire she makes sure that the bow of the cruiser, and so their forward firing Thanix cannon and missiles, remain trained on the ever closer enemy ship. The sight of the enemy ship rising towards them gives her hope that her father has survived the battle on the surface. She knows that he will do everything he can do to stay alive for her and also for the new love he is fighting beside. So it is that she will do everything that she can do to make sure that she and her shipmates survive the coming battle.

Glancing down quickly at the readout in front of her she can see that the Collector ship has finally cleared the atmosphere and any moment now she expects to hear Captain Montgomery give the order to fire. The young red head focuses her gaze again on the sight of the Collector ship through the view port and as she does so her eyebrows come together in curiosity as she sees it seemingly stagger in space.

As the ship seems to lose all forward momentum and thus risks falling back to the surface under the planet's gravitational pull a series of explosions bloom out at various point across its rock like surface. Larger explosions rock the ship and pieces start flying off it to tumble away into space or to fall back into the atmosphere to leave fiery trails as they burn up.

Over the ship's internal comms she hears a voice from CIC announce, " _Sensors are detecting a massive build-up of energy and radiation within the enemy vessel. Computer models estimate that their engine core is overloading."_

 _"_ _Captain to Pilot. Get us away from that ship. Best possible speed,"_ then orders the voice of Captain Montgomery.

Having anticipated the order the Captain has not even finished speaking before Alexis' hands are flying over the controls and the bow of the _New York_ is turning away from the now crippled Collector ship. Once they have completed a full one hundred and eighty degree turn she pushes her hand forward over the sub-light engine output controls to as far as they will go and the cruiser shoots away from the Collectors at just under light speed.

Looking down at the display on the console in front of her she watches the numbers indicating the range from the Collector ship rise quickly. She just hopes they will get far enough away before the thing blows.

* * *

 _Surface – Volorus 2_

Castle stands with Beckett, Esposito, Ryan, Bau, Hastings and a few of the other surviving members of the _New York's_ assault force, with their helmets off and looking up at the sky at the spot where they saw the Collector ship disappear from view. Any moment now he, like everyone else, expects to see the flashes high in the sky signifying a battle in low orbit.

He hopes that the _New York_ wins the battle and, especially, that his daughter, Alexis, survives unharmed because he is under no illusions that it will be a tough fight between the ships. The proof of that is the ferocity of the battle they experienced here on the ground. They almost lost the battle and in fact did not win it themselves. He is sure that if the Collectors hadn't inexplicably just stopped fighting and run then himself and everyone standing around him now, including the extraordinary woman beside him, would be dead.

Something in the back of his mind is wondering why the Collectors suddenly turned tail and fled just when they had the Alliance soldiers on their knees. It was almost as if they got a message that something was happening somewhere else that was of greater importance to them.

A chorus of gasps ripple through the group around him as a blinding white light appears in the sky above them. The light shines as bright as the sun for a few seconds before it snuffs out leaving the after image of it still visible in his vision when he blinks. Then a shockwave reaches the surface and they all stagger as a wind from high above presses down on them and sends dust and debris flying. But as quickly as it arrives the shockwave dissipates and they all sand upright again and look up to see the smoking trails of hundreds of pieces of debris burning up in the atmosphere far above them.

Castle catches Beckett's eye and he knows that the look of worry on his face is plain because it is clear they just witnessed the destruction of a ship high above them but which ship?. Holding his gaze Beckett raises her activated Omni-tool to her face so to speak straight into the comms microphone in it as she says, "Wolf Leader to _New York,_ come in, _New York."_

For Castle there is an agonising few seconds of silence before the more than welcome voice of Montgomery can be heard saying, " _New York Actual to Wolf Leader. I can report the enemy vessel has been completely destroyed. I'm sending down all our shuttles and medical personnel to assist you with any wounded and with the paralysed colonists."_

"Great news, _New York._ We'll mark landing zones for the shuttles for where they are most needed. Wolf Leader, out," says Beckett while still holding his gaze. While she had been speaking an ever wider smile has grown on her face.

Then as the realisation that the enemy ship has been destroyed and that they have won the day makes its way through the surrounding soldiers, cheers, relief filled laughter, claps and a few hugs happen amongst the men, women and Salarian that survived. Castle ignores all this however because he only has eyes for the black and red armoured woman with strands of sweaty chestnut coloured hair framing her face. The same woman that is looking right back at him with the most dazzling smile he has ever seen and what he thinks and hopes is a look of love in her eyes.

* * *

 _A/N: So the battle is won though other events in the galaxy played more than their share in the outcome. As you might guess the events here are tied to the events of the final battle in Mass Effect 2 and as stated at the start include some dialogue direct from the game. So a very belated spoiler alert about the end of that game though it is only a spoiler if you play and choose to have your Shepard destroy the Collector base. When you play you can choose to do as the Illusive Man wants and kill the Collectors while still saving the base. Being able to make your own decisions like that are the beauty of an RPG like Mass Effect._

 _Just a little more left in this story. Thank you all for reading._


	22. Chapter 22

_Disclaimer: Neither Castle nor Mass Effect belong to me. This story is just my imagining of the two universes combined._

* * *

 _The Presidium -The Citadel_

Councillor Udina scrolls through the report on the holo-screen on his office desk and frowns with concentration. It has been a month since the _New York_ engaged the Collectors at Volorus 2 and the apparent self-destruction of the Collector vessel.

Since then there has been no further attacks by the Collectors on human colonies in the Terminus Systems. In fact there has been no further sightings of the Collectors anywhere in the galaxy since then. Now, if he is to believe the report from Citadel Council Intelligence in front of him, there never will be again. According to CCI sources the newly resurrected Commander Shepard and his Cerberus team found and destroyed the Collector's base of operations at the centre of the galaxy.

The report surmises that, as the destruction of the Collector's base happened at the same time as the Collector ship at Volorus 2 self-destructed and that there have been no sightings of any Collectors since, the Collectors were all linked in some way. That with their home destroyed so were all Collectors everywhere.

Udina snorts in derision at that piece of fanciful speculation, no doubt done by some over eager CCI analyst in an office here on the Presidium. He can't quite believe that the destruction of their base would mean the destruction of all Collectors everywhere but then again even Alliance Central Intelligence can't find any sign of the Collector's anywhere so perhaps this report's supposition is correct. Either way, after recent events, the Systems Alliance and the Citadel Council cannot let it be known that Shepard and more importantly, Cerberus, had anything to do with the end of the Collector's attacks.

No, Alliance public relations have been working hard to put forward the story that it was the brave efforts of the crew of the _New York_ that has resulted in the cessation of the Collector attacks on the human colonies. That the Collector ship did not self-destruct but was rather defeated in battle by the _New York_ and as a result of this defeat the Collectors have been sufficiently discouraged from any further aggression.

There had been an initial fly in the ointment when this press strategy was formulated when none of the _New York's_ command staff, not Captain Montgomery nor Commander Beckett, would appear on camera to support this version of events. Fortunately embarrassment had been averted with the press given the story that the _New York_ and her crew were too busy with clean up at Volorus 2 and with continuing patrols in the Terminus Systems to ensure the Collectors have indeed stopped, to give any statements or interviews.

The news that Shepard is alive eventually broke, they always knew it would, but there have been no stories linking the resurrected human Spectre and the end of the Collector attacks. Himself, the Alliance and the Council had been worried that Shepard himself or Cerberus might start publicising what they had done but both had remained silent on the matter. Not surprising in Shepard's case, who has always had a love/hate relationship with the media, but very surprising in Cerberus' case.

Udina would have thought that Cerberus would be eager to announce to the galaxy that they had been responsible for the removal of the Collector threat, but no. Cerberus have been strangely silent about the whole affair which may confirm another report from CCI that he saw that said Shepard destroyed the Collector base against the wishes of the Illusive Man, the anonymous leader of Cerberus, and that since then all ties have been cut between Shepard and the terrorist group.

Sill he and the rest of the galactic leadership had worried that some annoyingly enterprising journalist, like that Emily Wong of the Alliance News Network, would eventually pin Shepard down for an interview and get the story from him. Fortunately the Commander's own recent actions have prevented him from both, being available for such interviews and by seriously reducing the goodwill for the Commander in the eyes of the public.

 _BEEP! BEEP!_

The sounds from the comm unit on his desk breaks Udina's contemplation of the report in front of him to respond, "Yes?"

 _"_ _The Senator is here for your 10 o'clock appointment, Councillor,"_ says the ever calm and professional sounding voice of his assistant, Wendy.

For the briefest of moments the frown on his face deepens at the mention of the man he is about to meet but he just as quickly schools his features into the standard bland pleasantness that he always has when meeting with another politician.

"Show him in, Wendy," he orders and rises to his feet, faux smile on his lips.

The next moment the door to his office slides open and the man in question is led inside by his blond assistant. The man, dressed in a fashionable if conservative dark blue suit give his own politician's smile as he strides into the office and his an Udina's eyes meet. As the man reaches Udina's desk the Councillor reaches over and they shake hands briefly.

"A pleasure to see you again, Bill," says Udina to Systems Alliance Senator William Bracken.

"You too, Donnel," responds Bracken pleasantly.

When their hands separate Udina indicates to a chair behind Bracken and say, "Please," and as the Senator takes his seat he calls to the hovering Wendy, "That'll be all, Wendy. See that we are not disturbed."

The mid-twenties, pale woman nods her blond head and responds, "Of course, Councillor."

As his assistant strides quickly from the room Udina resumes his seat behind the desk and studies the man siting comfortably, legs crossed, in the chair opposite him. Udina is on first name terms with most of the Systems Alliance Parliament, in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, so calling Bracken by his first name is not an indication of any personal relationship between them.

No, in fact, Bracken has been something of a rival of Udina's for some years now. For several of those years Bracken has been the Chair of both the Foreign Relations and Defence and Intelligence Committees that directly oversee the System Alliance's relationship with the rest of the galaxy and the defence relationship they have with the Council. So whenever there is some new proposal from the Council or a request for the Alliance fleet to take part in Council operations, it has to go through this man's committee. A fact that the good Senator from North America uses to his utmost to bolster his own profile and agenda both on Arcturus and the Citadel.

The fact that he, the human representative on the Citadel Council, has to be seen to seek permission from this man rankles with Udina. He also doesn't trust the man as he has made no secret of the fact the he covets Udina's job. In fact, Bracken was one of the people Udina beat out for the position of what was then Alliance Ambassador to the Citadel Council and ultimately the position as the human Councillor when the Council offered the spot to humanity after their assistance and sacrifice at the Battle for the Citadel.

He knows that Bracken is more than a bit put out at having missed that opportunity and so is doing everything he can to put himself in the right position to be Udina's successor. Udina represses the self-satisfied smirk that threatens to appear on his lips as he thinks that Bracken is going to be waiting a long time because a Councillor's term on the Citadel Council is for life and Udina intends to have a very long life indeed.

"So, Bill, to what do I owe this pleasure?" Udina asks of the middle aged Senator.

Bracken cocks his head at the bank of holo-monitors that are along one wall of Udina's office where images from a variety news programs from human and other council races are playing mutely but the crawls on the bottom of every screen, no matter the language, are telling the same story, "What else, Donnel, but that mess in the Bahak system."

Udina almost growls in anger and frustration at the mention of the disaster in Batarian space, "Yes, well take a number. I've been fielding requests for comment from every media outlet there is not to mention appointments with half the Ambassador's on the Citadel. All of them wanting an explanation as to how Commander Shepard, the first human Spectre, hero of the Battle of the Citadel and the shining example of humanity to the galaxy, could be responsible for the destruction of an entire Batarian system with the loss of over three hundred thousand lives."

"A lot of those media and Ambassadors, especially the Batarian's unofficial representative, are calling it mass murder," adds Bracken unhelpfully.

Udina fixes Bracken with an interrogatory glare as he asks, "And what about the Alliance? What do they call it?"

The man shrugs his shoulders, "Officially, the Systems Alliance deplores the incident in the Bahak system and sends their deepest condolences to the Batarian Hegemony. As to the claims that Shepard was responsible, as an Alliance Naval officer the Alliance Admiralty will conduct a full and open investigation into the claims against Shepard. Until that investigation in complete the Alliance has no official stance on Shepard's guilt or innocence. Unofficially, Shepard has caused one hell of a mess and while, after the history between us and the Batarians, myself and a few others won't shed any tears over the Batarian's losses, it still leaves us with a gigantic public relations and diplomatic nightmare."

For once Udina is in agreement with Bracken as he nods and says, "The same here with me. The flak I've been getting from the other Councillors over this. Questioning whether Shepard and therefore any human is fit to be a Council Spectre after what happened. Fortunately, to shut that sort of talk down, all I have to do is mention Saren and how such a trusted 'Turian' Spectre came close to killing everyone on the Citadel, including the Council. Still, regardless of what the Admiralty find this has caused damage to the chance of any future human candidate being accepted into the Spectres."

Bracken fixes his own pointed stare at Udina as he says, "We can't let that happen. Having humans in the Spectres, like C-Sec, is an important symbol of the significant place humanity holds in the galaxy. We have to get ahead of this and have some new candidates appointed before the investigation is complete."

Again nodding in agreement, Udina responds "I agree. I have a few candidates in mind. One is another hero from the Battle of the Citadel, Operations Chief Ashley Williams."

A contemplative look crosses Bracken's face, "Hmm, good soldier and I've heard that she has views on working with aliens that I agree with but she served side by side with Shepard. Her reputation may be damaged by association with him and therefore might prevent her appointment by the Council," Bracken holds up his hand as Udina opens his mouth to protest, "I'm not saying not to put her forward at all, just not straight away. Put a few more people forward first that will be more palatable to your friends on the Council."

Seeing the Senator's point Udina tables William's candidacy for the time being and suggests the next name, "Well, one that the Council should find no issue with is Commander Kate Beckett."

A look that Udina can't interpret flashes across Bracken's face at the mention of the Commander's name and he takes a couple of beats before responding with, "While I agree that, particularly after Volorus 2, her profile with the galactic community is high enough and that she is more than qualified, are you sure about her willingness to accept such an appointment? I understood you offered to sponsor her before and she turned you down."

This time it is Udina that shrugs his shoulders, "It's true that while she refused a previous offer I made her I'm sure that I can convince her to accept this time. We need a hero like her to be the new face of humanity to the rest of the galaxy after what Shepard has done. He can try and defend his actions all he likes by claiming he was preventing an invasion by these mythical 'Reapers' of his through the Bahak relay but his image will be forever tarnished with the deaths of over three hundred thousand Batarians. Against that, through her actions against the Collectors, Beckett has saved countless lives. While Shepard's association with Cerberus has raised questions over his reputation, Beckett's is above reproach. Not to mention that one of the Council's own Spectres, a Salarian named Bau, was with Beckett on Volorus and sent a very favourable report on her conduct to the Council afterwards. No, Beckett is the one that has the best chance of being approved by the Council and accepted by our own people. I've even enhanced her image of fairness and of her law-abiding nature by having her and the _New York_ be the ones to take Shepard into custody and escort him and his ship back to Earth for the investigation."

There is pause and Udina can see that Bracken is thinking quickly and Udina is curious what it is about Commander Beckett that has Bracken so concerned?

Soon however the Senator says smoothly, "Well, if you are sure. I have a few names I'd like to put forward as well. Some people that I think you will find have the proper attitude and experience when we are talking about the right types of people we need in the Spectres. The type of people whose ideas about humanity's place in the galaxy I know you and I both share. They have some influential sponsors that I'd like to introduce you to as well. People I think that can offer you some support with your work here, Donnel. Support that you will find more than useful when dealing with all those aliens on the Council."

* * *

 _SSV Normandy SR2 – In Transit, Earth Systems Alliance Space_

Castle steps out of the lift onto the deck of the CIC of the _Normandy_ and looks around with slight nervousness which dissipates instantly upon spying the subject of his search. With a few long, quick strides he eagerly joins Beckett as she stands squarely, arms crossed across her chest and staring thoughtfully at the large hologram of the galaxy, surrounded by consoles, that dominates the centre of the room.

Even in those few steps from the lift to Beckett, Castle still can't but help thinking that he, Beckett and the rest of the _New York_ personnel that came aboard this frigate are intruders here. That they do not belong on this ship let alone in control of this ship as they escort it, it's remaining crew and it's infamous Commander back to Earth.

As he joins Beckett at the galaxy map he takes in the look on her face and something tells him that she is thinking the same way as he about their presence aboard this ship. Not that they have been made to feel unwelcome by those still aboard. With most of the original Cerberus crew members having conveniently left the _Normandy_ just hours before the _New York_ rendezvoused with the ship, the frigate had been mostly empty when he had stepped aboard at Beckett's side. Only Commander Shepard, a few of the aliens that were part of the team of specialists that helped him in his assault on the Collector base and a handful of truly loyal human crew members like the ship's pilot, doctor, and a couple in Engineering, were there to greet them.

As second in command of the _New York_ it was Beckett's job to officially place Shepard under arrest, take command of his ship and fly it back to Earth for the Commander's court martial in front of the Systems Alliance Admiralty. Castle had, of course, insisted on accompanying her aboard and Captain Montgomery had not objected. Not that Castle thinks they are in any danger on this ship, especially after Shepard himself had assured Beckett when they stepped aboard that he and his crew would cooperate fully with her and her boarding party.

In fact, since that first meeting when they came aboard, they have hardly seen anything of the burly Commander. He mainly keeps to himself in his quarters, only emerging for meals or to see off the last of the non-human crew, a Turian, that left the ship the day before yesterday after they rendezvoused with a Turian transport heading back to their home world, Palaven. The other aliens had previously, one by one, left the ship as they had gotten closer to Earth and as they were not members of the Alliance, witnesses though they may be in the case against Shepard, Beckett had no authority to stop them from leaving.

That so many witnesses were now gone was something that Castle knows annoys the newly arrived gruff, grey haired head of the Alliance Naval Criminal Investigative Service team that arrived aboard yesterday to conduct the investigation into Shepard and the incident at the Bahak System. In fact he has just left the man and his team in the observation lounge one deck below them that they have taken over as their workspace. He had hoped to make friends with the man and his team, seeing the possibility of future characters for his writing in them, but the man had all but physically kicked him out of the lounge telling him that, " _He's got no time for rich dilettante writers playing at being a Marine."_

As he looks at the thoughtful profile of Beckett next to him he wants to remove the serious and contemplative look on her face so he says flippantly to her, "Well, I don't think I'm going to be put on Agent Gibbs' Christmas card list any time soon."

Castle is pleased to see one side of her lips uplift into a sardonic smile as she huffs before responding with, "You and me both, Castle. I still thinks he blames me for letting all his witnesses go. In fact I think is exact words were, ' _Members of my family have been Naval investigators for over two hundred years and in that time never have I heard of witnesses to an alleged crime being allowed to just fly away like that'._ And that's despite the fact that, by all accounts, Shepard went into the Bahak System solo and no one on this ship was in a position to see anything of what he did there _._ "

"Yeah, that still hasn't stopped him and his team from turning this ship upside-down looking for evidence. From what I was able to get from one of his team before he kicked me out was that they haven't found anything, not even a record of Sheppard having left the ship. Also, while those of Shepard's crew that remain aboard are cooperating with the investigation the ANCIS team thinks that they are all, even the ship's VI, are holding things back," Castle confides to her.

Beckett shrugs her shoulders at that, "I'm not surprised. A crew that has been through the things this crew has are loyal to their Commander and Sheppard surely does engender loyalty in those that serve with him."

Castle nods in agreement at that, "You're right, of course. I'd imagine Ryan, Espo and the rest of the crew of the _New York_ would do the same for you if the situations were reversed. Not that I think you could ever be responsible for the destruction of an entire inhabited star system," he adds hastily at the end.

Another smile quirks on Beckett's lips, "Oh, I know that, Castle," Beckett then sighs heavily, "I just wish that someone else had been given this duty. I'm a soldier not a baby-sitter. Now that the ANCIS team is here I thought that we'd be allowed to hand this off to them but Alliance Command has other ideas. No, they've made it clear that, given Shepard's status as a hero of humanity he has to be brought in by someone of similar standing in the public's eyes and apparently that's me."

Castle can't help but disagree with the self-deprecating tone that Beckett has adopted at the end of that sentence and says to her encouragingly, "Of course that's you, Beckett. I know that you think you are just doing your job but believe me when I say that no one could have led the attack on Volorus 2 as ably as you did. You saved the colony and a lot of lives that day and the 'hero' status you have now as a result is richly deserved in mine and a lot of other's opinions."

Beckett turns to face him fully and her eyes look at his face searchingly, clearly looking for proof of his sincerity before she responds with, "Thanks, Castle. I know you mean that but I still can't help and feel like a bit of a fraud. I lost too many good people that day and in the end I won nothing. The Collectors had us on the ropes and then they just ran away and blew themselves up. If we believe what Shepard's pilot tells us it is because Shepard blew up the Collector home world that the Collector's at Volorus self-destructed. If that's the case nothing I did on Volorus had a direct effect on the result of that battle. Yet Alliance PR is painting it as a victory that I won all by myself, almost ignoring the rest of the crew of the _New York_. You can't tell me that isn't rubbing some people up the wrong way?"

"Not that I've heard, Beckett. The crew understand that you aren't behind what is being said in the media. Even Esposito, who before now would have been quick to say something negative about all this, has been on your side. He knows that you and Captain Montgomery would like nothing better than to set the record straight but have been given a gag order by the Alliance brass. Like you he just wishes that the true story could be told so that the sacrifices of those we lost on Volorus can be honoured properly. Ryan told me that Espo told him that if the stuff about you in the media is all we are going to get then at least, by acknowledging the battle and not classifying it, those that died can be in some small way acknowledged and not forgotten," Castle reassures her.

He is pleased to see that his reassurance has worked as a look of gratitude graces Beckett's face and her shoulders relax in her blue, Alliance jumpsuit, "Thanks again, Castle. You know just the right things to get me out of my own head."

Castle looks with love into Beckett's hazel eyes and wishes they were in private on not the CIC, half staffed that it is, so that he can reach out and caress her face as he so achingly wants to do right now. Proof of why he can't give such an open display of affection for the woman standing before him comes at that moment as a member of the _New York's_ boarding party, Yeoman Ellis, calls from a nearby console ringing the galaxy map.

"Commander, you wanted to be told when we cleared the Mars defence perimeter. We have just done so and are on course for Earth orbit insertion in approximately one hour," says the young woman in a businesslike tone.

Looking over Castle's shoulder, Beckett calls back, "Thank you, Yeoman." Her eyes then return to Castle and again they search his face and she asks, with a hint of tentativeness, "Uh, so we're almost at Earth…..I guess you'll be leaving the ship when we get there?"

Confused at the question and Beckett's nervousness Castle asks back, "Why would I be leaving?"

In a move that Castle finds adorable in the normally confident and kick-ass Commander, Beckett's eyes shift nervously from his as she ducks her head and her loose shoulder length, chestnut hair covers her face for a moment before she looks up again into his eyes with eyes that betray a little fear at what she might hear as she says, "Well, now that we are home, what with the Collector's defeated and their attacks on the colonies stopped, you should have more than enough research for your book. There's no reason for you to stay aboard the _New York_ anymore."

Seeing where she is going with this and, again, finding her uncertainty adorable, Castle decides to have a little fun as he shoots back, teasingly, "I'm not on the _New York_ now, Beckett."

Castle smiles as he gets the response he is looking for as Beckett rolls her eyes before continuing, "I know that, Castle. I'm here too….What I mean is, that when we get to Earth I would have thought that you would go home. I know you have a place in Manhattan and there isn't anything to keep you on the ship now."

Shaking his head in disagreement and disbelief that Beckett could think he could just walk away from her after all they have been through and what she means to him he decides not to play with her about this and gives her his most sincere look as he says, "I'm not going anywhere and have no intention of going anywhere, Kate. There is something, or I should say _someone_ , that is keeping me on the ship. I think you know who that someone is."

Castle is relieved to see Beckett's eyes brighten at his words and then knows everything is alright between them when she shoots back teasingly with, "Alexis!"

Chuckling at her little joke he dips his head in acknowledgement as he responds with, "Ok, you're right, there are two people that are the reason I am staying on the _New York._ My daughter Alexis is one but the next and equally important one is you, Kate. I know we've only know each other for a short time and have been together for an even shorter amount of time but I have no intention of being separated from you now. I fully intend to stay your partner on and off duty for as long as you'll have me."

The white teeth of the wide smile that appears on Beckett's face lights up the room for Castle as the happiness he sees there matches the own in his heart at that moment, "Oh, Rick, I can think of nothing better than you being my partner for as long as possible, both on duty and off." Then a look of consternation crosses her face as she quickly adds, "But what about your writing and the Alliance and Captain Montgomery? Can you stay aboard and still write and will the Alliance and the Captain let you stay now that the threat from the Collector's is done and your usefulness for that mission is over?"

"I think you'll find that I can still be useful, Beckett," he tells her with a suggestive waggle of his eyebrows. As she rolls her eyes again in response he continues a little more seriously, "Anyway, that's all taken care off. I've spoken to Roy and he's more than happy for me to stay as long as the Alliance brass agrees. I told you the Alliance Minister for Defence is a fan. One vid call to him and I've now officially been asked to remain aboard as a civilian consultant. As for my writing, I'm more inspired to write on the _New York_ , fighting side by side with you, than I ever could be sitting in my loft in Manhattan. Plus, as my book paint the Alliance military in such a good light I was able to give that as one of the reasons I should stay aboard. So that my books can have the proper authenticity while publicizing the good work you and Alliance soldiers like you do every day to keep the ordinary people of the Alliance safe," Castle tells her confidently.

Still smiling wide, Beckett says, "Well, it sounds like you've thought of everything."

Nodding eagerly Castle responds with, "I have, Beckett. There's no getting rid of me now. I'm your partner from here on out whether you like it or not."

A happy gleam is in Beckett's eye as he cocks her head to one side and says, "Oh, I like it. When we first met I never thought I would but now I can't stand the thought of you not being with me. So I especially like the sound of that, _partner!_ "

Smiling happily Castle responds with, "I think this is going to be the start of something magical, Kate."

"Me too, Rick. Me too," agrees Beckett.

* * *

 _A/N: That's it. This is the end of this story. I have left things so that I can continue this story later, if real life and my own inspiration will let me. It has been more time than I intended between this chapter and the last and for that I apologise. I could have left the last chapter as the end of the story but I just wanted to put out this last one to as a full stop for it._

 _Thank you all so much that have expressed your appreciation for this story in your reviews or by just simply following it, making it a favourite or reading it. This has been a different take on the Castle characters in a very different universe which I knew going in would not be as popular as some more conventional stories. That it still garnered a following had been very gratifying to me who writes for fun and when I have some spare time, which I've had less and less of recently._

 _So, again, thank you all very much._

 _Surgarrush71 out!_


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